


A Swelling Rage

by XtinaMonster



Series: I Swear My Life is Ruled By Mumford and Sons... [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Erica, Alternate Alpha Pack, Anal Fingering, Angst, Barebacking, Derek Needs To Use His Words, F/M, First Time, Frottage, Kinda Sane Peter, Knotting, M/M, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Mama Stilinski Feels, Marking, Mates, Minor Character Death, Miscommunication, Nightmares, Pack Dynamics, Pack Feels, Pack Mother Stiles Stilinski, Rimming, Rough Sex, Scenting, Season 3 AU, Some Scott bashing, Werewolf Stiles Stilinski, oops blow job
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-25
Updated: 2016-07-11
Packaged: 2018-01-16 23:51:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 13
Words: 78,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1366315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XtinaMonster/pseuds/XtinaMonster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles couldn’t say for sure when things had changed exactly, and by things he meant his feelings, and by feelings he meant things he really didn’t want to think too hard about because… well… reasons. Reasons such as the fact that they related to a super-hot werewolf who had threatened to rip his throat out on more than one occasion and if there was going to be any ripping he would prefer it to be of clothes and it be the method of getting them off… thank you very much... too bad time is never on his side, and to make matters worse something is happening to Stiles and no one seems to realise that he could possibly be losing his mind… or maybe it’s just him, he’s really not too sure anymore...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. How is this my life?

**Author's Note:**

> Suuuup? This isn’t the first TW story that I’ve started working on but it is the first one I’m posting, but let me break a few things down before you start reading. First off Derek will always be my Alpha! That shit that went down with Cora… not a fan… -.- Also I’m not a big fan of the whole True Alpha thing for a couple of reasons but the biggest one being is that up until 3B I wanted to punt Scott over a fence! So guess what you won’t be seeing in this story? XD Also this first chapter is going to seem a little fast but that’s only because I’m laying some background and setting the stage but please keep in mind that it may end up getting reworked a little later, consider yourselves warned. Lastly, for now anyway, any spelling or grammar mistakes are mine and mine alone, ADHD and no sleep sort of makes you not care so unless I get a beta they may not be fixed anytime soon.

 

Stiles couldn’t say for sure when things had changed exactly, and by things he meant his feelings, and by feelings he meant things he really didn’t want to think too hard about because… well… reasons. Reasons such as the fact that they related to a super-hot werewolf who had threatened to rip his throat out on more than one occasion and if there was going to be any ripping he would prefer it to be of clothes and it be the method of getting them off… thank you very much.

He figured it probably started after he’d spent hours holding Derek up in the pool and continued to change after Erica and Boyd had been taken, spending hours during the summer alone with Derek, Lydia, Isaac and Peter of all people looking for them, though Stiles assumed Lydia was only there to distract herself from the fact that Jackson’s parents had moved him to London as soon as school was over, but he wasn’t about to voice that thought. Ordinarily he would have, but he like living. Scott would help from time to time but even then it was like pulling teeth which kind of annoyed him to no end but with things still being as rocky as they were between the two of them he didn’t bother pushing it. True he would get the occasional raised brow from Derek when he would show up to the recently purchased loft with no Scott in tow but he would merely just shake his head and get some sort of weird caveman grunt in response and feel his heart break a little at the kicked puppy expression that Isaac would wear.

For some strange reason he found the crazy feelings continuing to grow the more he worked with Deaton to gain more control of his magic, or his spark, or whatever the hell the secretive Obi-Wan-like vet was calling it. He got the feeling he was in trouble when the Alpha pack started attacking at random times and his first instinct was to call Derek and not Scott. And things hit a higher emotional scale for him after a night stuck in the loft freaking out with no one but Peter to sound off to when Erica and Boyd were finally found and returned, bringing the previously thought dead Cora Hale as well and annoying the news that their new bubbly, and kind of creepy even though he couldn’t figure out why, English teacher now knew about werewolves.

Between the ‘joint’ pack meetings, training, research and running for their lives, he really didn’t notice how much trouble he was in emotionally until the pack started showing up at his window at all hours, asking him for advice, looking to him for answers that Derek was either reluctant to share with them or didn’t know how because of his constant man-pain. All he knew was that he cared about Derek in a way that made his lifelong crush on Lydia seem silly when he thought about it. He wanted to be there for the struggling alpha in whatever way he could, even if the man only saw him as the ‘annoying best friend to that guy that betrayed him’ half the time and as someone he could slam into things the other half and God did Stiles want Derek to slam into him… him into things… hell he’d take either one. Slowly but surely everything started to change and it started with Isaac.

Stiles was sitting at his desk looking up information on Alpha Packs, needless to say the search was not going well and leading him to one dead end after another, when he heard the light tapping of claws against his window. God how was this his life now that he knew what claws on window glass sounded like? Turning and expecting to see Scott, no doubt there to bitch about Derek or moon over Allison, even though they had spent the summer ignoring each other with Allison being out of the country and all, he was a bit surprised to see Isaac there instead. Stiles quickly waved the other teen in and gave him a curious look.

He was surprised to see him not so much because he was there, since the two of them were getting along much better than before and maybe even becoming decent friends, but because he was there and Scott wasn’t and hanging out with Scott was usually the only time Stiles saw him outside of the loft. Isaac slipped in and fidgeted a bit before he finally looked at him.

“Were you looking for Scott because…” Stiles trailed off when Isaac quickly shook his head. “Well if you’re not looking for Scott or Derek, who I haven’t seen for like two days by the way… the ass, what else could you need?”

Stiles didn’t mean to make himself sound so useless but that was more or less how he felt lately, because besides research that was going nowhere what could he possibly do to help against a bunch of alphas? He was broken from his moment of self-pity when he realised that Isaac looked nervous and seriously what the hell could make a werewolf nervous?

“Isaac, seriously dude what’s wrong?” he asked.

“I don’t know if I can trust Scott,” the other teen finally muttered while shifting around where he sat.

“Dude, it’s been like three months since…” Stiles trailed off knowing that the statement was hypocritical coming from him because even he hadn’t forgiven his best friend for lying to them all. Then again to be able to forgive Scott meant he would need to be around, but ever since Allison and her father had come back, time with Scott was few and far between and on the rare occasion they did get to hang out either Isaac was with them or when Stiles tried to bring up what had happened Scott would just get defensive and start yelling about how he was just protecting his mom. “But I can understand that,” he added with a sigh before running a hand through his hair.

“Really?” Isaac asked seeming to perk up a bit and Stiles nodded before moving to sit next to him on the bed.

 “As much as I love Scott, I mean he’s been like my brother for a long time, I know I’m not the easiest person to get along with but… anyway, what he did was really shitty, he didn’t think about what his decision was going to do to anyone else and sadly he kind of does that a lot,” he explained with a frown. “But when he finally realises that he screwed up, after he’s done trying to blame you or whoever else he can for it, he’ll do what he can to apologise,” he added which actually made him realise just how much of a shitty friend Scott could be… why were they best friends again?

“He’s awesome to hang out with but I don’t think it’s a good idea to trust him… you can’t depend on him… he’s just… he’s not pack!” The teen finally blurted out, his eyes flashing for a moment as he looked at Stiles nervously like he was expecting him to yell in defence of Scott and honestly if it had been months earlier before everything with Gerard had gone down he probably would have, but now he just couldn’t. Instead he took a page from Erica’s book and reached out to ruffle the other teen’s curls, as he’d seen her do so often, hoping he didn’t pull back a bloody stump.

“I know but if it’s just that he’s not pack would you be here talking to me about it?” Stiles asked knowing that he wasn’t part of said pack or at least that’s what he'd thought even as the two shifted around on the bed with Stiles sitting up and Isaac surprisingly with his head in the teen’s lap like the giant puppy he was. The new position surprised him a little… okay so it surprised him a lot but it wasn’t a bad sort of surprise so he wasn’t about to start complaining or anything.

“What do you mean? You’re pack! Derek even said you were!” He exclaimed as what sounded like a happy growl, Stiles wasn’t about to call it a purr because these guys were wolves not cats… werecats… Stiles almost shuddered at the thought of if those were a thing he needed to worry about too, while the sound continued to escape from Isaac as Stiles ran his fingers through his hair, scratching at his scalp a little from time to time. Seriously though, he could almost imagine the hissing! Imagine the hairballs… now that was just gross… and what the hell did Isaac just say?

“Wait what? When the hell did he say that?” He asked pausing for a moment before a whine from Isaac prompted him to continue his… well… petting for lack of a better word.

“He said it just after we got home from everything that happened with Gerard and Jackson. He told Peter, Jackson, Lydia and I that even though we couldn’t trust Scott that you were to be treated like pack, that you had more than earned your place in it if you ever wanted it,” the taller teen said in a small voice that sounded oddly like he was about to fall asleep. “He told the others too after we found them and we couldn’t have done it without you,” he added with a yawn.

“Never said anything to me about it… damn Sourwolf,” Stiles muttered which caused what sounded like a giggle to escape from Isaac. “And I’m not the one who had Uncle Creeperwolf’s claws jammed in the back of my neck, that was all you Wonder Pup.”

“Hey Stiles?” He heard a while later, well after his own eyes had slipped closed.

“Hm?” He asked simply.

“Thanks for listening to me,” Isaac said as he leaned up to nuzzle against Stiles’ shoulder before finally getting up. Stiles slowly opened his eyes before giving the other a sleepy grin.

“Anytime, and tell the other puppies that too… window is always open… even for the eyebrows of doom…” he said sounding a little slurred. Isaac merely smiled brightly at him before heading back out the window.

As good as he had felt when Isaac left the feeling didn’t last much longer. He couldn’t say how long he’d been sleep again before the nightmare started but he knew right away that it was the same one he’d been having over and over again for the last two weeks.

They were trapped, he was with Scott, Derek, Peter, Isaac, and for some reason Ms Blake, who looked smug if a little afraid. They were running from something and Stiles just kept yelling and asking where his dad was while Derek and Scott were trying to calm him down, Isaac was holding someone, but Stiles couldn’t make out who it was for the life of him, he just knew they needed to get out of there and then the scene would shift and he was kneeling over Derek, in a way that was horribly similar to the time he’d gotten shot by Kate, but this time he wasn’t waking up no matter how hard or how many times Stiles hit him. He sprang awake just as it ended the way it always did with him bloodied knuckled and clutching Derek’s limp body to himself as he screamed.

The next morning found him in the Jeep with Scott looking at him funny, after the first five minutes it had stopped being cute and was just damn annoying. When it was clear though that Scott wasn’t even going to comment on what he smelled like, which was no doubt Isaac as Stiles had woken up late and hadn’t had time to shower, nor what he looked like because he could only assume he looked like hell after another bad night’s sleep, he just rolled his eyes and shook his head. He couldn’t really bring himself to be surprised seeing as Scott had never even said anything to him when he’d no doubt that the others could sense pain coming from him and he had been recovering from his crazy-ass grandpa beat down. Hell even creepy-ass Peter had shown up to check on him!

For a painful moment Stiles couldn’t help but wonder if maybe it was a good time to start re-evaluating his relationship with Scott. Don’t get him wrong he loved the guy and would do whatever he could to help him; he just thought it would be nice for that to go both ways again, kind of a little more like his relationship with Derek. Though Stiles didn’t know what the hell to classify their relationship as, ‘two idiots who save each other?’, ‘two idiots who save each other and one of them is secretly in love with the other but won’t say anything because he likes his throat in one piece?’ just thinking about it made his head hurt, and that was going on a lot lately too, but he knew it was because of the lack of sleep he’d been getting, and it wasn’t that he didn’t want to sleep, but sleeping meant that damn nightmare.

He knew no matter when he would call Derek the man would get to him as fast as he was able, now Stiles didn’t know if that was just because he was an alpha and thought it was his job, but it had started out like that between them even when they didn’t really like each other! Hell Derek trying to push him out of the way when the Kanima attacked was a testament to their crazy saving each other relationship.

With a small shake of his head to himself he parked and the two climbed out of the Jeep without a word. To say being scooped up by Erica and swung around for a moment before being given an awkward side hug by Boyd left Stiles at a loss for words would have been an understatement.

“The hell…?” He finally managed to ask the two of them while Scott was growling very lowly at them. “Jesus Scott, knock it off.” He hissed at his friend who looked shocked for a moment before glaring, shaking his head and just running off.

“That kid is an idiot.” Erica said with an annoyed sniff in the direction that Scott had headed. Stiles didn’t say anything though; he just merely raised a brow in their direction as the three of them headed towards the school.

“Isaac said you’re good to talk with.” Boyd finally said which just confused Stiles a bit more. “We knew he was supposed to be hanging out with Scott last night but when we saw Scott at the movies last night with Allison and no Isaac, we found out that dick bailed on him but he seemed okay.” He added which made Stiles' jaw drop a bit as he was sure that was the most he’d ever heard the larger teen say in a single sentence and it also annoyed him a little to find out that Scott had bailed on the other teen. It didn’t really bother him so much anymore because he’d sadly gotten used to it, but he remembered how much it sucked when it first started happening.

“Then we picked up your scent and surprise, surprise, Batman to the rescue!” Erica said with a cheeky grin which merely caused Stiles to roll his eyes for a moment before the girl’s look turned serious. “I mean it Stiles, you really cheered him up, do you think maybe Boyd and I could…” She trailed off seeming surprisingly unsure of herself, which shocked him but his brain finally caught up to the party realising what it was they wanted from him.

“Like I told Isaac, you guys need me for whatever, my window is always open, just try to keep quiet if my dad’s home if you don’t feel like using the front door.” He said with a grin and a wink before they headed in to class.

So the fact that he arrived home to find the two of them already waiting in his bedroom was no surprise. What did surprise him was that the two of them dumped all their troubles out for him to pick over. He couldn’t help but feel oddly touched that they seemed to trust him enough to tell him everything. They filled him in on everything that had happened to them from the time that Gerard took them, which lead to them apologising to him over and over again about not being able to protect him, which he informed them was not their job and that he felt he had failed to protect them as well by not being able to get them free, to being taken by the Alpha pack.

Apparently after torturing them for the first two weeks, which made Stiles want to get rid of them even more, the pack had gotten bored with them and then locked them in the bank vault with Cora. Needless to say he’d been furious when they told him that the female in the pack had planned to kill at least one of them, god he wanted them all dead in so many ways for even thinking about it. They pulled his attention back when they both said Cora didn’t say anything to either of them for the first few days until one of the alpha’s had let it slip that they were from the new Hale pack, but all she had really done was ask questions about Derek after they had stated that he had been their alpha and not Laura.

“You could tell she was really sad, but like Derek she was trying not to show anything, it’s really kind of annoying,” Erica said with a roll of her eyes.

“I know, you’d think Derek’s face was stuck like that or something, maybe it’s genetic,” Stiles snarked trying to lighten the mood which got a small laugh from the other two. They all knew how much the remaining Hales had lost so they knew they couldn’t really blame them for their attitudes, well at least Derek and Cora; they could blame Peter for going bat-shit crazy and inadvertently dragging them all into this.

The three continued to talk about anything and everything for a long while until the two of them heard his dad’s car in the distance and headed out but not before they both nuzzled against his shoulder, the same that Isaac had the night before. He’d read about scenting but no one had included him in it until Isaac had the night before. He knew it was a pack thing and instinct driven and the fact that Scott had never even attempted to do it even though he claimed Stiles was his pack, was sort of disheartening but he allowed himself to enjoy it now for a moment before they two slipped out the window.

Dinner with his dad had been a quiet affair, and he was sure his dad was studying him, noting the dark circles under his eyes and no doubt coming to the worst conclusion known to man but he didn’t say anything so Stiles didn’t either. It always seemed quiet now when they were together but Stiles knew that it was his own fault, him and his irrational theory that keeping his dad in the dark was keeping him safe. He knew it really wasn’t, hell he even knew that he was actually putting his dad in more danger by not telling him, but there just never seemed like a good time to spring something like that on the man, and on top of that it really wasn’t his secret to tell and he made a mental note to say something to Derek at the ‘joint’ pack meeting on Saturday, he figured it was like the sex talk, if you couldn’t talk about it then you shouldn’t be doing it. Besides after what had happened at the police station with the Kanima, he wouldn’t be surprised to find out if his dad had already put it together or at least had some sort of theory about what the hell had happened. In fact he was more than surprised that the man hadn’t even brought the subject up to him.

It was a few hours later when he was startled from his sleep at the sound of his window sliding open. He opened his eyes quickly to find a panicked looking Isaac slipping in. He was just about to panic himself when he noticed his phone blinking next to him.

 **Sourwolf** : _Isaac had a nightmare, ran out, he could be coming to you._

Stiles quickly sent a quick text back to Derek before lifting the blankets and moving over to give the other teen some room in his small bed. He was a little surprised though when Isaac seemed to shrink in on himself while tucking up under Stiles’ chin at the same time. He thought for a moment about asking Isaac to tell him about the nightmare but decided against it, and merely allowed himself to fall back to sleep while running a hand through the sweat damp curls.

Across town Derek quickly picked up his phone when it started to buzz. He grumbled out contentedly when he saw the message.

 **Red** : _Don’t worry, I got him, pup is safe with me._

There were few things that Derek was certain of at that moment, the first being that he knew Stiles would take care of Isaac, the second being that both he and his wolf were pleased that his pack were relying on each other, and lastly that whatever it was that was going on between him and Stiles, he wasn’t as against it as he probably should be and he couldn’t find it in himself to fight it. He wasn’t saying that he knew whatever changes were coming were going to be easy, but after finally coming to terms with the need to trust his wolf after Kate and the fact that his wolf seemed to be patiently waiting for something from the teen, he was content to wait for once and let things unfold. It was another of the many things going on that he couldn’t control but of them all it was the only one he wasn’t worried about.

When he’d noticed the shift slowly starting between them he’d tried to scare the teen away by being rough with him, threatening him, anything he could think of but Stiles would just keep showing up as persistent as ever and willing to help and saving his ass more than once. So he’d deal with whatever the hell this was when he needed to.

What Derek wasn’t certain of was what the alpha pack was up to and at the moment when the hell Peter had gotten hold of his phone and changed Stiles' name to Red.

The rest of the week followed much the same pattern as Monday had with Isaac, Erica and Boyd showing up at his window at all hours and they had even started spending time with him at school as well, even Lydia had been when she wasn’t with Allison and Scott, at one point Stiles would have been dying of happiness over this but now he was just glad for the company in some of the advanced classes he was in. He did find himself looking at them a little funny though when they would tense and glare at Ms Blake if she got close to his desk in class. He had no idea what that was about but he figured he could always research it with Lydia at one of the pack meeting, though he was assuming it was because she knew about them now and wasn’t pack.

Thursday was a nightmare.

Stiles had just gotten home from school, finding it odd that none of the pack besides him and Lydia had been there, when he heard frantic howling in the distance and it was getting closer. As soon as he’d heard it his heart had started to pound hard in his chest as he forced himself to move, running back down the stairs and meeting the wolves that were heading his way.

“Where have you guys…” His words were cut off when a distraught Isaac launched himself into his arms. “What’s wrong? What happened?” He asked finding himself getting more and more frantic the longer the silence stretched on, even Scott wasn’t saying anything. It was then that he noticed none of the Hales were there with them. “Where are Peter and Cora? Where’s Der… where’s Derek?” He asked his voice catching a little, causing most of them to whimper. He knew they weren’t stupid because it seemed like all of them barring Scott and Derek knew how he felt about the alpha.

“Some of the Alpha pack attacked,” Scott finally started to say, “Derek went crazy when he saw the one guy, called him Ennis, and they just attacked each other!” he exclaimed.

“Did any of you get hurt?” Stiles asked, his eyes running over all of them checking for any visible injuries but everyone shook their heads.

“It seemed like the others that were there were just there to keep us away from the two of them.” Boyd said, his voice sounding rough.

“They fell.” Erica finally said seeming to bring herself out of the daze she had been in. “They fell really far,” she added before a high pitched whine escaped from her prompting Stiles to wrap his arms around her before leading everyone inside and up to his room, everyone seeming to arrange themselves into a pile on the floor with him in the middle.

“We tried to grab for him dude, Peter and I, we really did but we weren’t fast enough,” Scott said and Stiles could clearly tell that he was about to start beating himself up about it and as mad as Scott made him from time to time he didn’t deserve the blame for that.

“Scott don’t… don’t beat yourself up about it, the only ones to blame are that fucking Alpha pack!” Stiles yelled surprising everyone into silence. No one said anything for a long while until Isaac finally lifted his head from Stiles' lap.

“We couldn’t find his body,” he said softly, the pained whine being the last straw for Stiles who finally broke down and started to cry silently to himself.

_No…nonononono… he couldn’t be dead… he just couldn’t be…_


	2. You're not as brave as you were at the start...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group deals with the aftermath of Derek's fall and the fact that he's missing while Stiles tries desperately to keep himself together even though he has no idea what is tearing him apart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter two for you all! I don't believe I mentioned in the other chapter that I of course own nothing and am just writing this for funsies. Also I am glad to see that some people are enjoying this, this makes me happy in my angsty place. I'll apologies for any of the oocness that pops up in the story but like with any story this is my interpretation of the characters so... meh. Anyway the title is from a Mumford & Sons song "Little Lion Man" and I blame them for this whole story XD Enjoy!

If the Sheriff thought it was odd to find a pile of depressed looking teenagers in Stiles’ room, he didn’t say, he merely gave Stiles a curious look which quickly softened into something else entirely when the teen looked back at him with a broken expression. It was a look that had no business on a teenager’s face, or anyone’s for that matter and it was a look he hadn’t seen since Claudia died and it killed him a little to see that look on his son’s face again. So instead of chasing everyone out he merely nodded at Stiles in an unspoken agreement that said he wouldn’t be surprised if he got a call asking why Stiles wasn’t in school the next morning, it was clear that something was bothering them, even if he wasn’t sure what that something was.

Stiles sighed as he watched his dad walk away and the hollow feeling in his chest grew. He wanted to tell him what happened, he wanted to be able to cry and tell his dad that the guy that he was pining after… no the man that he _loved_ had possibly just died because a bunch of assholes decided to wreak havoc in _their_ territory for whatever reason… the thought caused him to pause in his downward spiral of depression, he’d never called it territory before. Territory was what the wolves and hunters called it…was it part of the whole ‘being pack’ thing? Whatever it was he knew it certainly didn’t belong to him, no matter what he might hope for between Derek and himself… if there was anything to hope for… if he was even still alive.

Scott mumbling something about his dad leaving the house again brought his thoughts full circle and he was back to realising how much he wanted to be able to talk to his dad like he used to, to be able to explain the reason that Erica and Boyd had been missing and that he was terrified that they weren’t all going to make it through this recent threat, but just the thought of Derek being dead made him ache to the point where he couldn’t even bring himself to move.

Friday morning hurt.

Stiles woke to an empty pain in his chest and the feeling like he’d been hollowed out hit him even harder than it had the night before. He couldn’t help but imagine that the rest of the pack was feeling much the same way. He almost longed for the numb feeling he’d gone through after his mother had died. He didn’t do anything for almost two weeks, or at least that’s what his dad told him, he honestly couldn’t remember, and the fact that his dad did was pretty impressive and he was really starting to not want to remember this either.

He said nothing when Scott finally got up, stating that he was heading home to tell his mom what had happened and to check in on her, he merely nodded his head before pulling Isaac closer to himself as the other teen whimpered in his sleep. In fact he didn’t say anything for most of the day, not when Lydia showed up and inserted herself into the pile on his floor, nor when Peter and Cora showed up to check on them all, at least not at first.

“We haven’t found him. I’m starting to…” Peter said his voice coming out in its usual cool tone causing Stiles eyes to finally shift to him and no matter how much he tried to hide it he could clearly see a hint of guilt in Peter’s eyes.

“Don’t… don’t you dare try to tell me he’s dead,” he said finally breaking his long silence. Peter merely nodded, lacking any of his usual sass before he and Cora slipped back out, seeming to take Stiles words as some sort of command and going to look for Derek again, this time Erica and Boyd heading out with them, leaving Isaac and Lydia with Stiles.

If Stiles were feeling more like himself he would have smiled proudly when he got a text from Scott informing him that he was joining the others to help look for Derek, but he couldn’t do more than tell him to be careful and he sent the same sentiment to everyone else out looking as well. Eventually the three of them migrated down to the living room and Stiles forced them to eat something, even though his own stomach could barely even handle even the thought of food. He really didn’t want to do anything beyond curling up in his bed and hiding from the world. He wanted to hold on to the silly notion that if he could ignore it, it wasn’t real. He knew it was stupid but all of this was coming on too fast, too soon, and he didn’t know what else to do.

While his sudden realisation of love for Derek surprised him, it wasn’t its sudden appearance that did that, it was the strength of the feeling. Of course he knew what Derek would say, most likely the same thing he told Scott and the others when they claimed to be in love, that they weren’t old enough to understand what it was, but unlike the others Stiles was more than prepared to smack the alpha upside the head with a wolfs-bane laced bat if he tried to pull that with him. He knew very well what love was, he’d had a great example because of his parents.

He knew it was about protecting them with everything that you were even if it was protecting them from themselves. He knew it was about doing whatever you needed to, to make sure the other person was happy, that you both were. He knew that it was about putting them before everything else, even yourself… even your own sanity it seemed.

“They have to find him, we would know if he was really…” Isaac suddenly growled out, his claws flicking in and out in annoyance as his eyes flashed, the sudden outburst breaking Stiles from his thoughts. He merely put his arms around the angry werewolf and sighed.

“I know pup, I know,” he said simply allowing Isaac to cling to him, hoping that the nickname helped a little and actually calming down a little himself as he focused on listening to Isaac breathe in his scent. Both of them were slightly surprised when Lydia let out a frustrated noise that bordered on a growl and despite his mood Stiles couldn’t help but remember they had yet to figure out what Lydia actually was.

“I can’t take this!” She snapped out. “I’m going to call Jackson and tell him what’s happened and then I’m going to talk to that annoying ass vet.” She said with a haughty sniff before storming out of the house. Stiles couldn’t blame her really, he felt like he was slowly going crazy being cooped up in the house just waiting for news but he knew he wouldn’t be much help in the search and that wasn’t because he was putting himself down.

It was a few hours later that Isaac finally fell back into a fitful sleep; Stiles found himself quietly making dinner for his dad, it wasn’t that he felt up to it, it was more he needed to do something or he was pretty sure he was going to go crazy. The Sheriff walked in and Stiles was sure he couldn’t help but pick up on the depressed look that was probably still on his face. He knew his dad didn’t know what the hell was going on and what had been going on but he seemed determined to help in whatever way he could and that was something he loved about the man.

“Son, what’s wrong?” He finally asked walking into the kitchen and laying a firm hand on Stiles’ shoulder. Stiles tried to keep it in but the warmth and concern from his dad was just too much and the guilt of him not knowing what was going on ate at him like everything else.

“Derek is… missing,” he said with a shaky breath not being able to say that he was missing and possibly dead, that would raise too many questions, questions he wasn’t sure he could answer right then.

“I know you’ve all been hanging out with him, but maybe he just needed a break from teenagers,” his dad said simply, obviously thinking that Derek had just run off.

“You don’t get it, he wouldn’t do that! Not without telling someone and especially not since he got guardianship of Isaac during the summer,” Stiles said, feeling frustrated at both himself for getting mad at his dad when it was his own fault the man didn’t have all the facts and at his dad for assuming anything about Derek. Apparently his worry about falling in love with Derek was too little too late because he had to love him if he was about two seconds away from punching his dad.

“Son, maybe it’s time you all stopped hanging out with someone so much older than you all,” the Sheriff said softly trying to calm the teen back down. Stiles bristled at the statement but since he hadn’t been looking at the man neither of them had noticed the way his eyes had tinted red for a moment before he spun around to face him.

“He’s only twenty-two Dad, how the hell old do you think he is?!” Stiles exclaimed his arms flailing in anger, though he felt a little calmer at the surprised look on his dad’s face.

“I distinctly remember his license saying he was born in 88’,” the man said with a thoughtful look on his face.

“They apparently screwed up his information when they reissued his birth certificate after the fire but he and Laura weren’t exactly in a position to care at the time,” the teen said with a sigh remembering that he had actually asked Derek about that once himself. “And now he’s missing and we’re the only ones who care because Scott and I were idiots and everyone thinks he’s this horrible person… but he’s not…” he said trailing off a little brokenly and collapsing into his dad when the man hugged him.

“I’ll keep an eye out for him son, promise,” He finally said with a sigh before Stiles mumbled out a thank you before he looked down at Stiles with a curious expression. “Should we be having the Talk?” he asked which caused Stiles to go wide eyed.

“No need Dad. I care about him a lot, I really, really do but we all know that would never happen, I mean have you seen him?!” Stiles exclaimed not feeling in any way up to being that upbeat but he just really wanted his dad not to worry about him and he also wanted to have his breakdown in peace. “I mean seriously! I don’t look at guys often so maybe it’s just a Derek thing… or maybe a Derek’s abs thing… or maybe I’m just really attracted to brooding, we can probably blame Batman for this,” he rambled on until his dad rolled his eyes at him fondly.

“Just let me know if that changes okay, that’s all I’m asking,” the man said finally before hugging Stiles again when he nodded his head.

By the time Stiles got back to the top of the steps the fake smile he’d plastered on for his father was completely gone. He just couldn’t bring himself to keep it up as he headed back into his room and if he was surprised to find the pack all back and curled up on his floor, he didn’t say anything, he just slipped into the space they left for him and fell back into an uneasy sleep.

_He could see the pack trying to get past the Alphas but they were all being easily knocked back and Stiles could clearly see Derek wolfed out and fighting with an alpha that was almost twice his size. Stiles walked past all of them, almost as if the fight was parting just for him, as he quickly made his way towards Derek. This wasn’t happening, it wasn’t, it just couldn’t… but it was. Just as he’d almost made it to the two fighting they tipped over the edge of the broken floor and all Stiles could do was let out a strangled gasp as he watched Scott and Peter dive for Derek at the same time._

_The other alphas merely smirked as the pack let out a collective howl of distress. As Stiles crept towards the edge, he looked down to see the two alphas lying brokenly on escalator steps that had long since stopped moving._

_“DEREK!” Stiles screamed out._

He was woken to frantic shaking and whimpers by the pack and looked at them with a confused expression.

“You were thrashing around and screaming dude!” Scott exclaimed looking at him with worry clear on his face.

“What happened?” Lydia asked after everyone had finally quieted down, so he told them about the nightmare he had. By the time he finally finished talking though everyone barring Lydia was wearing matching grim expressions.

“That wasn’t a nightmare Red, that’s exactly what happened, minus you being there of course,” Peter said from where he sat watch at the window, giving Stiles a very intense and curious stare, like he was looking at a puzzle that was slowly starting to piece itself together.

No one said anything else though as they all started to settle back down. Meanwhile Stiles simply lay there with his mind racing. How the hell had he dreamed that? He hadn’t been there and even though they had all told him what had happened there is no way he could have known all of that in such detail, no one had been that specific. God what the hell was happening to him?

He was broken from his thoughts though when he looked up again and found both Hales starting at him as if they were waiting for him to say something else or maybe they were listening to his heart, which he was sure was about to hammer its way out of his chest. Either way he gave a small shake of his head before trying his best to fall back to sleep.

Saturday morning brought more of the same.

This time when the group left to look for Derek, Isaac went with them, leaving Stiles and Lydia alone. The two headed downstairs and merely nodded at his dad as they passed him before heading out and seating themselves on the porch steps. After another few moments of silence Lydia turned to him with a raised brow.

“So how long haven’t you been sleeping?” She asked calmly. To be honest Stiles wasn’t all that surprised that she had picked up on it; she was far more perceptive about things than she let on half the time.

“I think since about the time Erica and Boyd went missing,” he said with a sigh and as soon as he uttered it her eyes narrowed at him.

“Why didn’t you tell any of us?” She snapped out but Stiles could tell the anger wasn’t really all about him.

“It’s not exactly like you can all keep me from having nightmares,” he shot back, which prompted the sudden slap he got on the back of his head.

“That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have told us,” she hissed before crossing her arms in front of herself with a look that clearly said they weren’t done with that particular topic, not by a long shot, so he sighed resigned to that and changed topics for the time being.

“So how did your talks go yesterday, you never said,” he said nudging her shoulder with his. She gave him an exasperated sigh before flipping her hair over her shoulder at him.

“Well Jackson wasn’t happy to say the least and asked if he should find a way to get his parents to send him back… he’s not exactly enjoying London and Deaton said that if Derek was gone it could be for two reasons,” she said with a small frown.

_Lydia pulled up to the vet’s office just as she finished talking to Jackson and sighed with a roll of her eyes before getting out of the car. She almost hoped that the vet tried to be elusive with her; she was itching to take out her frustration on someone. She wasn’t even a wolf! At least they didn’t think she was… She shook her head as she walked into the office and sure enough Deaton was waiting for her, but surprisingly his expression was a little grim as he lead her back to his office._

_“Tell me what happened,” he said simply, so she launched into the explanation that she had been given by Scott. By the time she finished Deaton’s face was back to the usual passive expression._

_“If they couldn’t find Derek or even his body then chances are he survived and went to somewhere he could defend himself while he healed,” he said and Lydia glared at him._

_“Or? I’m sensing there’s more there, come one lay it out if I can handle being some idiots chew toy I can handle this,” she snapped, giving him her best ‘I will smite you with the power of my annoyance’ look. God she needed to stop hanging out with Stiles, she was starting to name things._

_“There is also a chance the Alpha pack took his body,” he finally said his brows quirked up._

_“Why in the hell out they do that?” She asked but then it dawned on her before the man could even answer. “They would use it as an example,” she muttered out and Deaton merely nodded his head._

_“I do hope you all find Derek, Ms Martin, I really do,” the vet said simply before Lydia turned and quickly made her way out of the office._

“God this is so fucked up,” Stiles finally said running a hand though his hair, pulling at it a little. “We need to get him back,” he leaned into Lydia a little when she put a hand on his shoulder.

“We will and then those assholes won’t know what hit them,” she said hugging Stiles tightly before pulling back a bit. “How long has Derek been it for you anyway? A girl likes to know when she’s been replaced,” she asked giving him a slightly playful smirk and Stiles couldn’t help but adore her a little more for the way she was trying to keep his mind off things.

“You’ll always be it for me Lydia you know that,” he said dramatically while clutching his hands to his chest which earned him a shove and a glare. “It started sometime while we were dealing with the Kanima and just sort of exploded from there,” he finally said with a shrug. “I know nothing will ever happen because I mean hello! Derek Hale, Captain of the SS Brood Ship, with me, yeah that’ll be the day,” he said with a snort and roll of his eyes.

Lydia didn’t say anything to him about it though she merely gave him a look that said she thought he was being an idiot and hugged him again before telling him that she would be back later before heading out, having promised Allison that they would meet up. Stiles watched her go with another sigh before heading back into the house and up to his room, collapsing on the bed and letting the hollow feeling wash over him again as he broke down once more. It started off as silent cries but the longer it continued the more his worry about everything came to the surface and before he knew it he was sobbing loudly, using his pillow as best he could to muffle himself knowing that his dad was still downstairs.

He just couldn’t stop himself, everything was about as far from okay as it could possibly be and there was nothing he could do to stop it! Why couldn’t things just settle for once? What if they never found Derek? What if he was really dead? What would happen to the pack? The questions just kept tumbling over and over again in his mind as his heart rate spiked higher and higher… he couldn’t think anymore… God he couldn’t breathe…were his panic attacks coming back now too? He could feel it getting harder and harder to breathe but everything suddenly stopped when he heard something that sounded like cracking. He sprang up in his bed and turned to see faint cracks on his bedroom window, had he done that? Not wanting to analyse what had happened anymore he pushed himself up on shaky legs and went back downstairs. Whether his dad had heard him crying or not, the man didn’t say, he just merely gave Stiles a sympathetic look as he curled up on the couch next to him. Neither one of them said much until his dad was getting ready to head out for his shift.

“Son, if none of you hear from Derek soon, we can file a missing person’s report,” he said simply giving Stiles’ shoulder a squeeze. It wasn’t much but the thought behind it made Stiles give his dad an honest smile as he nodded his head before watching him head out.

He continued to lie on the couch for a few hours more until he heard a soft thump come from his room and he headed up, after texting Lydia that he was leaving the door open and to just let herself in when she came back, to find the pack looking just as depressed as they had when they left which told Stiles all he needed to know.

“Peter and Cora?” He asked noticing that the two were absent.

“They went back to the loft just in case Derek showed up there,” Scott explained from where he was sitting on the bed. Stiles merely nodded before flopping down onto the mess of blankets still on his floor and he wasn’t surprised when everyone soon fell back into their positions from the previous night, even Scott who was on the other side of Isaac once more.

“I miss him,” Isaac said quietly, causing everyone to make small noises of agreement before one by one the efforts of the day caught up with them and they dropped off. Stiles kept himself awake long enough to see Lydia slip in and situate herself on the other side of Scott before he allowed sleep to claim him too.

 ____________________

It wasn’t until much later that night that all the wolves jumped awake at once, causing Stiles and Lydia to wake as well and Stiles’ heart just about exploded in his chest when he saw a pair of familiar red eyes looking back at him from the window.

“Derek,” It was all he got the chance to say as the alpha slipped in and was quickly buried under a pile of very excited betas, Scott surprisingly in the mix as well.

Stiles hung back and watched the scene with a small smile at the sounds of what could only be described as happy yips came from them all, well barring Lydia who looked almost like she was offended that Derek had made her worry. He actually chuckled a little when she said as much before finally heading home for the night, even though Stiles could see her hesitation at having the man out of her sight. The group carried on for a few minutes more before Derek rumbled something to them that was too low for him to hear. All he knew was that suddenly he was being rubbed on by the betas and hugged by Scott before they all headed back out the window.

He didn’t have long to wonder what the hell had just happened because he very quickly found himself pinned under a rumbling Derek, so he did the only thing he could think of doing in that moment and smiled up at him, which caused the rumbling to get louder, leading him to believe that it was indeed a happy sound.

“Thank you,” Stiles was floored by the gratitude and it only made him smile wider at the man.

“I’m just glad you’re alive Sourwolf!” Stiles said before surprising the both of them and burying his head in Derek’s chest. The alpha slowly leaned back while wrapping his arms around Stiles to pull him upright with him. The teen honestly didn’t care how they were positioned, he was just glad that Derek wasn’t pushing him away because he honestly didn’t think he’d be able to handle it if he did. “What happened? Where were you?” Stiles finally whispered out.

There was a deep sigh from Derek and Stiles finally looked up at him to see the pained expression on the man’s face and wanted to take back his questions even if for some reason he felt like he was owed an answer.

“I’m sorry you don’t have to…” He trailed off when Derek shook his head.

“How much do you know about the colour of wolves eyes?” Derek asked his voice low and slightly pained.

And with that simple question Stiles found out all about a girl named Paige, the first time Derek could remember Peter being a sneaky asshole, why Derek went crazy at seeing Ennis, just why Derek’s eyes had been blue instead of the yellow other betas had, and the story made Stiles’ heart ache for the man in front of him. To love someone and lose them and thinking it was your fault wasn’t a foreign concept to Stiles. He knew it was crazy but he couldn’t help sometimes thinking that he was the reason his mother had died. He could tell from the way Derek spoke that he’d not talked about Paige in a long time and he understood, really he did, his dad still had trouble talking about his mom and it had been almost just as long since she had passed. Something also told Stiles there was more to the story and he vowed to pry it from Peter when he had the chance.

When Derek told him about what had happened with the Alpha pack and how he’d found himself at the school, Stiles was glad that Derek wasn’t looking at him when he said he’d been found by Ms Blake and that was where he’d been, or he would have seen Stiles scowl every time he called the woman Jennifer. He managed to keep himself quiet until Derek apparently ran out of words.

“It wasn’t your fault you know and I’m sure in the end that Paige was really happy that you were there for her.” He said softly choosing to avoid the subject of Ms Blake altogether, he was feeling too many different things right then and he didn’t quite trust his mouth. Derek didn’t say anything in response to his words but Stiles would swear that he felt Derek’s arms tighten around him just a little, not that anyone would believe him if he told them they’d had this conversation with him plastered against Derek’s chest.

“You did a good job keeping the pack together.” Derek said after the silence had stretched on for a few minutes and even though Stiles was in shock over the compliment from the man, maybe near death worked on him like death worked on Peter, he felt a nasty little spike of anger.

“A ‘thank you’ and a compliment all in one day, should I be worried?” He asked with a roll of his eyes. “So were you ever planning on telling me I had a place in the pack or is it always the betas job to let the lowly human know what’s going on?” Stiles snipped out. He didn’t know if he was angry all of a sudden because of the apparently growing situation with Ms Blake, or if it was because Derek had almost gotten himself killed and then instead of calling them he went and got laid, sure he didn’t say that’s what happened, but he wasn’t an idiot! He was finding it hard to control his emotions again and the fact that Derek actually looked at him in surprise was kind of a head rush.

“I didn’t know it needed to be said,” Derek said and honestly he hadn’t. He was just about to protest Stiles calling himself a lowly human when the teen spoke up again, his arms flailing out to his sides and nearly smacking Derek in the head as he pulled himself away from the alpha.

“Of course it did! You always kept saying I was in Scott’s pack but you never once said I was in yours! I wasn’t even sure any of you needed me anymore until everyone suddenly started showing up at my window and then you went missing! Even now I don’t know what use I am to you guys,” Stiles said his frustration clear as he ran a hand through his hair, at least until he let out a squeak as Derek was suddenly very much back in his personal space and sporting a very large pair of fangs. “Is this the part where you finally rip my throat out with those bad boys?” He asked trying to get a handle on himself and his libido quickly which merely caused Derek to give him a rare amused smirk.

“No, this is the part where you submit if you’re serious about being pack,” he said lowly, Derek wasn’t going to lie, he’d actually been expecting to have to fight Stiles on this so he was a little surprised when the teen quieted and bared his throat. Then again with the way Stiles had kept everyone together while he had been missing, he supposed he shouldn’t have been. He was surprised by himself, though when his wolf urged him to do a whole lot more than scent the teen and give him a bite that would mark him as pack.

He had to admit that scenting Stiles had taken quite a bit of control on his part, it already being shaky after talking about Paige for the first time in a very long time, and giving him the pack bite had taken even more, especially when a faint moan escaped the teen as he bit down. He wasn’t surprised when Stiles didn’t freak out about being bitten, having no doubts that Lydia had told him about it and he was thankful for that because dealing with a freaked out Stiles on top of a stressed one was a true test of his control, and not something he wanted to chance after such a tense exchange between them. He could tell something was going on with Stiles but he slowly starting to realise that he couldn’t push him, if he tried to the only thing it would lead to would be Stiles lashing out and then shutting down.

He was still mulling over Stiles’ words as he pulled back from the teen and while Stiles was useful whether he was a werewolf or not he knew he could be so much better, it wasn’t a chance he wanted to take but he had noticed some changes in his scent over the past few meetings that were a little worrying because they’d come from nowhere and the look of exhaustion wasn’t lost on him.

“Do you want me to give you the bite?” He asked his fangs still out, as he found himself not minding the taste of Stiles’ blood, which was a little alarming.

Stiles wasn’t going to lie and say that he hadn’t thought about it ever since Peter had offered it to him, nor was he going to lie again and say that he didn’t want it at all, he knew it would change him in more than just the physical ways, it would change his inner spark as well. True he wouldn’t be able to handle mountain ash and such but Deaton had told him there were other things that could be used in its place with the right spell and the fact that Lydia could still handle it wouldn’t leave them at a disadvantage.

Oh yes, he had been doing his homework for a while now, or at least since the nightmares had started and his attention span had gotten worse. He remembered all too well his dad saying they were the first symptoms that had presented in his mother. True the nightmares went on for years because Stiles even remembered them, but he had no desire to put his dad through that again, but he at least wanted to finish this as he was, kind of a go out being a human with a bang sort of thing.

“Yes, but not yet,” he said which caused Derek to look at him in confusion and he sighed, hell everyone was using him as sounding board lately, he figured he might as well make his alpha his, and it wasn’t like he didn’t notice Derek sniffing at him every time they were near each other during pack meetings. “Even though I can’t smell it, I’m going to guess you’ve noticed a change in my scent, it’d be impossible with the way you keep sniffing at me like I’m a damn fire hydrant,” Derek growled a little at that but nodded and for a moment Stiles couldn’t help but be reminded of an angry puppy. “I know something isn’t right, I’ve been having nightmares, not just the Gerard kicked my ass ones, no these are worse, and my attention span is to the point where my Adderall is barely keeping up with it, I’m not going to lie, if I have what I think it is it’ll eventually kill me,” Stiles said not even bothering to lie because he knew the man would be quick to call him out on it.

“Then why wait?” Derek asked pulling Stiles closer to him again, which caused Stiles to blush a bit and the usually chatty teen took a moment before he spoke again.

“Because I know there is a chance the bite could kill me too, and don’t think it’s because of what you just told me about what happened with Paige, I knew the risks way before you told me about that,” he said giving Derek another serious face but avoiding telling him that he’d found out from Peter when he offered because that was a fight that did not need to happen right then. “If I could I’d at least wait until I finished high school but time isn’t always on our side, so I at least want to wait until we’ve finish dealing with whatever the hell it is the Alpha pack wants here before we take the chance,” he finished with a shrug hoping that Derek understood what it was he was trying to get across, and if the fact that Derek ‘I’m the Alpha, notice the big A’ Hale was hugging him again told him anything, he guessed he did. When Derek finally pulled away from him he merely nodded his agreement.

There was little else to say between the two of them after that but Derek seemed reluctant to leave and it took Stiles encouraging him to go and spend time with the others that finally got him to go. When he finally drifted off again he slept so deeply that if he did have a nightmare, he didn’t remember it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully you all like it and as always feel free to follow me on tumblr: thextinamonster is my name ^.^ As I go along with the story I will probably post updates there and sneak peeks at upcoming chapters. I still have no idea how long this will be but as of right now it's about 40 pgs in word and I haven't even hit the middle... so who knows!


	3. Close My Eyes for a While

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles slowly starts to lose control of his magic, murders start up, Stiles finally has it out with Scott after biting his tongue for months and Derek apparently thinks alpha cuddles fix things when he's the one pissing Stiles off!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimers in previous chapter and I honestly wasn't expecting to finish with this one tonight but I did so here it is. Again chapter title is from a Mumford & Sons song: "I Gave You All" and I blame them for this whole story... -.-

They didn’t have a pack meeting on Sunday like they had planned, instead the group spent the day together just enjoying the fact that Derek was alive and well, hell even Scott still seemed happy to see him, though Stiles did catch him giving him funny looks from time to time. He assumed that on some level Scott could sense that he had joined Derek’s pack but if he wasn’t going to say anything about it then neither was Stiles, he just didn’t have the energy to fight with his friend, at least not right then. He figured the longer he could hold off on the blow up the better but he also knew his luck and figured the fight would happen sooner rather than later.

Sunday night, after the group all went their separate ways for the evening, had Stiles catching up with his homework and spending time with his dad watching a movie, even if neither of them said much at all after Stiles had told him that Derek had been found. He was surprised his dad hadn’t asked for an explanation but in the end he was really glad he hadn’t because he didn’t know what the hell he would say, but at the same time he worried that it left his dad with the impression that he had been right and that Derek had just run off.

Monday though brought the twins from the Alpha pack enrolling in their school which had been a nightmare in itself. The rest of the pack feeling it was their duty to protect Stiles and Lydia, growling lowly every time one of the twins even looked at them, earned him even more looks from Scott and kind of made him want to bang his head on the desk. It was during lunch that he finally text Derek about it.

 **Sparky:** _You need to tell the puppies to get themselves under control; I don’t think I can sit through another class with them growling every five minutes!_

When he saw his own name changed in his phone he couldn’t help but face-palm. God he was going to kill Peter for getting his hands on his phone. Seriously what was up with the man and his nicknames, who did he think he was? Him?! He almost jumped out of his skin when Derek suddenly appeared next to the table that they were all sitting at outside.

“Holy hell Sourwolf! I just figured you’d text them or something not show up like a creepy stalker!” He said with a startled flail of his arms.

“Shut up Stiles,” he said simply with a clench of his jaw. It really didn’t take Stiles long to realise the man must have already been at the school and when he saw Ms Blake not too far away from them watching the exchange he realised why.

Just thinking about the two of them together made something uncomfortable and sick feeling roll in his stomach. He couldn’t stay there if she was going to be so near. He glanced at his phone and couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief when he saw it was almost time for his next class. Jumping up from his seat he couldn’t seem to help but shoot a glare at Derek.

“Don’t take too long Cujo; some of them have classes to get to,” he shot with a huff before grabbing his bag and heading back into the school, ignoring the shocked faces of the group and the angry look on Derek’s.

He didn’t talk to anyone the rest of the day but he was at least thankful that they all stopped growling at the twins. He couldn’t say why he didn’t get any bad vibes from the twins, maybe it was because he wasn’t a wolf, or maybe they just weren’t as bad as the rest of the pack they currently happened to be travelling with, he couldn’t say for sure so he just pushed the thought away for later. He was heading out to the parking lot at the end of the day when his phone finally buzzed.

 **Sourwolf:** _We_ will _be talking when you get home,_ don’t _be late._

God he could practically hear the growl through the text message. He sighed shaking his head and climbing into his Jeep before heading home. He knew there was no point in avoiding the pissed off alpha, he honestly just didn’t know what he was going to say to him. They clearly had some sort of emotional breakthrough between the two of them on Saturday night and now it was like they were back at square one.

He couldn’t help but be a little relieved when he pulled up and took note of the fact the cruiser was gone, he didn’t think he was quite ready for his dad to hear a shouting match between himself and Derek. Heading in he went straight to his room and wasn’t surprised to find a red eyed Derek there waiting for him.

“What the hell was that today?” He growled out. “You can’t be so disrespectful in front of the pack Stiles!” He added. Well that hadn’t been at all what Stiles had been expecting, didn’t make him feel any better though.

“Yeah well you showing up at the school because you’re banging our teacher isn’t exactly what I’d call respectable Sourwolf!” He snapped back and no sooner than he’d finished speaking did he find himself slammed up against the back of his door yet again with a very angry alpha in his face.

“My relationship with Jennifer is no body’s business!” He growled out, his grip putting just enough pressure on Stiles’ neck to make him a little nervous but at the same time the man’s words pissed him off.

“You’re our alpha, so yeah I kind of think it is our business Derek!” He yelled out and as he did some of his magic flared up and pushed the alpha away from him, causing the man to scratch the side of his neck just enough to draw a little blood. “Shit!” Stiles hissed out, slapping his hand against it.

He wasn't sure if it was the sight of his blood that did it or the uncontrolled magic but the anger seemed to suddenly drain out of Derek and something that sounded an awful lot like a whine escaped the alpha in front of him. He quickly pulled Stiles’ hand away from the scratch causing him to hiss a little as the air hit it.

“Christ that stings!” He grumped out but his grumping quickly turned into a bitten off moan when Derek suddenly crowded into his personal space before lapping at the small scratch. “Derek,” he gasped out trying to pull away from the man before he embarrassed himself. “I’m sure it’s fine now… please…” He trailed off with a sigh of relief as Derek finally pulled back.

“Please what?” Derek asked surprising him with a look that was bordering on hungry, it was certainly a look he never thought he’d see aimed at him and not that it wasn’t nice but he couldn’t deal with it right then.

“I’m tired Derek,” he said with a sigh before what he will forever say was the manliest of squeaks escaped him as he was suddenly picked up and dropped onto his bed. He watched with his mouth hanging open in surprise as Derek tugged off his shoes before taking off his own, as well as his jacket, dropping it onto the desk chair. “Derek… what?” He mumbled out as Derek pushed him into a laying position, lay down behind him, and wrapped a strong arm around his waist.

“Shut up and go to sleep Stiles,” Derek huffed behind him. Stiles lay there frozen for a long moment before he slowly felt himself relaxing and before he knew it he was out.

\----------------

When he woke up Tuesday morning he was a little surprised that the space next to him was still warm, telling him that Derek had been there the whole time and he couldn’t help but smile at that. The smile quickly became a frown when he felt a strange tingling sensation on his back right between his shoulder blades. It lasted for a good couple of minutes before finally disappearing and as soon as it did the thought just sort of slipped away. It was quickly replaced by the realisation that he hadn’t had a nightmare the whole time he’d been sleeping. Maybe he just needed someone close? He did his best to chase the thoughts away during his shower and he was so focused on that, he didn’t even notice the scratch Derek had given him had completely healed. All his thoughts flew straight out the window when he went downstairs and his dad was sitting at the table with his brows raised.

“Son, anything you want to tell me about your relationship with Derek?” The Sheriff asked and Stiles just let his head hit the table. “Because I find it a little strange to come home from work at six am to see you in bed with someone you claimed to not be dating,” he said with look that actually seemed to be hinting at amusement.

“I swear dad we’re not dating… we were just sleeping together,” this got him another raised brow and caused him to start waving his hands. “No, not like that, literally just sleeping! I swear to everything we were just sleeping, I am still the only seventeen year old virgin alive!” He said before his dad suddenly started laughing.

“Relax son, I could see that you were just sleeping,” he said as Stiles stood to grab his bag and head out the door. “Though you looked awfully cosy together,” he added before Stiles gaped at him. “Don’t be late for school!” He said before heading upstairs.

So it seemed the day was off to a better start than the day before and after assuring everyone he was fine and a few wrinkled nose looks from Scott, Stiles called it a pretty successful day.

Despite waking up a few times from nightmares during the night and the strange feeling in his back again when he first woke up he was leaning towards Wednesday being a pretty good day as well and it got even better when he arrived home to find Erica, Isaac, and Boyd waiting for him, he could only assume that they’d run since he hadn’t see Boyd’s car outside. At first he’d been worried that something had happened but they three were quick to reassure him that they were just there to do homework and hang out. The group was a little surprised when the Sheriff suddenly opened the door and Stiles looked at the wolves in surprise and they merely shrugged.

“Son, I know you all like to spend time hanging out in the woods but I need you to promise me you won’t, at least not for a little while,” he said quickly.

“Sure dad, something wrong?” He asked getting up and following the man out into the hall even though he knew the three betas would be able to hear everything loud and clear.

“Now you know I shouldn’t be telling you this, but a body was found in the woods this morning,” he said with a sigh and Stiles heart picked up just a little.

“Another animal attack?” He asked wondering if the Alpha pack was to blame but his dad quickly shook his head.

“No the poor kid was tied to a tree and someone strangled him, bashed him in the head and cut his throat, so no not an animal,” he said, his gaze tired and Stiles’ heart went out to the man. Things had only just settled down at the station and now there was apparently a killer on the loose.

“We’ll be careful dad, I promise,” he finally said before being pulled into a hug by the man before he left again.

Heading back in he was met with curious stares but he just shrugged for a moment before scratching the back of his neck.

“Let’s go let the others know what’s going on,” he said finally which got a round of nods as the wolves hoped up and followed him out.

Stiles had Erica text Lydia and Isaac, Scott to let them know, it was only one murder and apparently not an animal attack, so there really wasn’t a need to get everyone together. At least that’s what it seemed like, something about it though just set Stiles’ teeth on edge and a feeling that told him things were about to get worse. When the four of them reached the loft they found Peter and Cora but no sign of Derek.

“Do we even need to ask where he’s at?” Erica said with an annoyed sniff of her nose and a roll of her eyes.

“Oh you mean our oh so capable alpha?” Peter asked with a mocking smile that clearly said he was just as annoyed as them, which caused the others to snicker. Despite the fact that he was just as irked, Stiles couldn’t help but glare at the two of them.

“Enough!” He snapped out, which surprisingly caused everyone to quiet almost instantly before he dug out his phone, hitting Derek’s number. If anyone else noticed things starting to rattle in the room when he got his voicemail, no one said anything. “We could use your opinion here Sourwolf, we’re all at the loft, so if you could get your fuzzy ass back here that would be great!” He said before hanging and all but slamming the phone down on the table in front of him.

“Stiles, what’s wrong?” Peter asked and Stiles found himself a little surprised by the lack of nickname but he supposed this really wasn’t the time for that.

“On top of all the other wonderful shit we’ve got going on there was a murder in the woods,” he bit out, his annoyance at the fact that Derek was actually choosing to be MIA slipping into his tone. “The way my dad described it didn’t sit right with me but it’s obvious it wasn’t an animal attack but no matter how clever the Alpha pack is I don’t think they’re going to run around strangling people and slitting their throats,” he said with a sigh.

“Scott wants to know if we think something bigger is going on,” Isaac said looking up from his phone and to Stiles’ surprise he was looking at him.

“Honestly I have no clue, that’s why I was hoping we could talk to Derek but apparently that’s asking just a bit too much from the guy who was missing for almost three days!” He yelled and even though he couldn’t hear it, the wolves all clearly heard when something in the kitchen shattered. “Just tell Scott that something isn’t sitting right with me about it and I’ll keep him updated,” he said after another quiet moment.

“Think we should start patrolling the preserve again?” Boyd asked with a thoughtful expression.

“As good of an idea as that is, with the Alphas running around I don’t think it would be the safest option, we’ll have to let my dad and his department keep an eye on the murder end and focus on figuring out what the hell the Alphas want,” he said running a hand over his face. How the hell was this his job? It should be Derek there telling them all of this.

“Why don’t we call it a night guys? I’m beat and our dear Alpha Sourwolf is clearly not going to be gracing us with his presence,” he said simply. Erica and Boyd nodded in agreement before heading out and he caught the longing look on Isaac’s face before grinning at the other teen. “You want to crash at mine Isaac?” Just seeing the expression that lit up Isaac’s face almost made the annoying trip worth it. He was about to head back out when he caught the questioning look that Peter was shooting him and sighed.

“Go grab your stuff; I think Uncle Creeper and I need to have a talk,” he said jerking his head in Peter’s direction. “Don’t worry if he tries anything I’ll scream like a girl and you can come save me,” he added with a laugh as Isaac rolled his eyes and nodded before walking away.

“You’re worried,” was all that Peter said.

“Of course I am! I just have this sinking feeling that we’re about two seconds away from being attacked on two fronts and considering how amazingly we’re holding up just against the Alpha pack,” he sneered as he said this, his voice sounding bitter even to his own ears. “I’m sure you understand my concern, I mean if you’re capable of that, I don’t know how do feelings work with zombies?” he added with a roll of his eyes slipping back into his usual insults.

“There’s the Red we know and love,” Peter sassed back while Cora snorted at the pair of them merely shaking her head before walking away, once she was gone Peter’s expression turned serious again before he moved closer to Stiles. “You’re right to be concerned, I’ve been getting the feeling the Alphas are here for more than just us and now with the murder, something isn’t adding up and we’re missing numbers,” he said low enough that Stiles was sure only he could hear and he found himself nodding in agreement with him.

“I’ll keep up with whatever info I get from my dad; maybe pick Deaton’s brain a bit to see if we find anything useful,” he said walking towards the door. “Isaac I’ll meet you downstairs!” He yelled out.

Just as he reached for the door it slid open to reveal a red eyed and angry looking Derek yet again but Stiles merely shook his head and held up his hands.

“Nope, nope, no way in hell, totally not doing this again, we just got done fighting about this the other day, I’m done. You want filled in on whatever you didn’t hear talk to Peter, Isaac is coming with me.” Stiles said his annoyance slipping back into his tone as he pushed past the grumpy alpha and headed down to wait. When Isaac came down a few moments later Stiles noticed that he was laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes.

“What’s so funny?” He asked as Isaac climbed into the passenger seat.

“Derek punched Peter in the face,” he said in between laughs. What he said though actually made Stiles sit up in concern.

“Why?” He asked really confused at the moment, sure they all wanted to punch Peter from time to time but no one actually did it, okay well maybe he threw things at him sometimes but he never punched him!

“Derek was still growling after you walked out and Peter shrugged at him saying _‘You should be proud he handled the betas just like an alpha should, god knows someone has too_ ,” Isaac said doing his best impression of Peter, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes for effect.

Stiles just sat there gobsmacked for a moment before laughing a little himself and shaking his head. The two stopped for burgers on the way back to Stiles’ house and ended up camped out in his room tossing theories around about everything that was going on until they settled down to sleep. Once again Isaac curled into and ball and tucked himself under Stiles’ chin. Stiles could feel himself slowly drifting off when Isaac sighed.

“Spit it out Isaac, I wanna sleeeeeep,” he groaned a little.

“Derek’s been different since he came back,” Isaac said softly. “It’s only been a few days since he started seeing Ms Blake…” Isaac trailed off. “You don’t like her either do you?” He asked looking up at Stiles shyly.

“How do you know?” Stiles asked suddenly wondering if wolves were able to smell hate and loathing all of a sudden.

“You tensed up when I said her name,” he said with a shrug and Stiles let out a sigh of relief at that. “He reminds me more of the jerk he was before after he’s been around her,” he huffed out.

“Before what?” Stiles asked trying to remember a time when Derek wasn’t at least a little bit of a jerk but coming up empty.

“Before he declared you pack,” Isaac finally said after a long quiet moment. “Why don’t you like her, I mean besides the obvious?” He said before ducking his head back under Stiles’ chin again.

“Jesus does everyone know how I feel about that asshole?” He mused already knowing that, yes everyone but Scott and Derek probably did, hell he wouldn’t be surprised if Jackson knew! “There’s just something about her that sets off all sorts of warnings in my head, just being in class with her gives me a headache. I just don’t feel right about her,” he added with a sigh.

“I’m really glad to hear that,” Isaac mumbled back and it was clear to Stiles that he was finally dropping off to sleep so with a tired smile Stiles allowed himself to drop off after him.

\----------------

The two of them woke up the next morning to Stiles’ dad tapping on the door and telling them breakfast was ready. How his dad even knew he had company was a mystery but he merely shrugged when Isaac shot him a look before they got up to get changed. Stiles was just about to pull on a clean tee-shirt when Isaac suddenly stopped him.

“What happened to your back?!” He asked which caused Stiles to turn and look backwards, as if trying to see his own back for a moment before Isaac shook his head at him and drug him over to the mirror. “It looks like something was trying to claw you from the inside out,” he added.

Sure enough right between his shoulder blades where that annoying tingling kept happening there was a large red patch. When he squinted at it a little more it almost looked like it was trying to form something, but whatever the hell it was he couldn’t say.

“I don’t know what it is dude but ever since I ‘officially’ became pack, I’ve been getting this weird feeling in the mornings, exact same spot too,” he said with a shrug before pulling his shirt on. He stopped moving again when he saw the worried look on Isaac’s face. “It’s not bothering me but if it gets any worse I’ll talk to Deaton about it,” he said with a sigh which seemed to relax the other teen finally.

They ended up having a quick breakfast with his dad before they headed to school and he spent most of his morning classes chatting quietly with the pack, as Scott continued with the weird looks and he even caught Allison raising her brows in question at him a few times before she seemed to figure it out and gave him a small smile, of what he could only assume was approval. He was kind of relieved that at least one of them figured it out but he was also a little concerned that it wasn’t the one with awesome wolfy powers.

Getting called to the office though was a complete surprise which turned into confusion when he saw his dad there waiting for him.

“Whatever it was I swear I’ve been here all day,” he said quickly before he noticed the sad look on his dad’s face.

“Stiles, we found another body,” the Sheriff started to say and Stiles could suddenly hear the blood rushing in his ears.

“Who… who was it?” He asked, he hadn’t known the first person but if his dad was here then he obviously knew the second.

“Your friend Heather,” he said before reaching out and placing a firm hand on Stiles’ shoulder.

“I was supposed to go to her party, I completely forgot…” he mumbled out, feeling a little numb right then.

“She disappeared from her party the other night, she was found about two hours ago, the same as the first,” his dad said his voice a weird mix of ‘dad’ and ‘sheriff’. “I already signed you out for the rest of the day, you okay to drive home?” He asked softly, his tone having gone all dad. Stiles merely nodded before hugging the man and walking out of the office.

It wasn’t until he got to his Jeep that he pulled out his phone and told Derek to either meet him at the hospital or to send Peter if he was ‘busy’. He was actually surprised when it was Derek himself that met him there.

“Another murder and it was exactly the same as the first one,” he said flatly as he approached the man. Whether Derek could actually sense his emotions or he’d just gotten really good at reading him he wasn’t sure but when Derek placed a firm hand on his shoulder he all but collapsed into his arms.

“You knew the person.” Stiles merely nodded because it was clearly not a question. He allowed himself to enjoy the comfort being so close to the man provided him for a few moments before he slowly pulled away.

“I know Scott’s mom is working this morning so I was hoping maybe she could sneak us down to take a look because something about this isn’t right,” he said with a shaky sigh.

“I could send Peter; you don’t have to go in,” Derek said causing Stiles to give him a faint smile.

“I appreciate that Sourwolf, I do, this is me appreciating that very much, but there is no way in hell Melissa is going to do anything for Peter,” he said with his brows raised as if to say ‘do you realise what you just suggested’. This of course caused Derek to frown, again, before he nodded and the two of them headed into the hospital.

It had been easier than he’d thought to get in to see the victims; apparently Melissa was just as curious about what was going on as they were. Stiles wasn’t quite sure whether to be a little disturbed or a little in love about it. Derek kept almost completely silent, only making grunts of agreement from time to time. As soon as Melissa informed them though that both victims were virgins Stiles heart rate must have jumped because Derek quickly placed a hand on his shoulder.

“What is it?” he asked, the concern in his tone both touching and surprising.

“I think I need to go talk to Deaton, like five minutes ago,” he said before shouting out a quick thank you to Melissa before running out the door with Derek before the man suddenly stopped. “Why are you stopping, the door is this way, the cars that will get us to Deaton are this way… and you’re sniffing the air…” He said hanging his head. “How many?” He asked realising that Derek probably picked up on one of the alpha’s, because he was suddenly way too tense for it to be anything else.

“Just one, it’s faint but I’m going to check it out. Go to Deaton’s and let me know what you find,” he said before stalking off.

Stiles merely shook his head and checked the time; if he was lucky he’d make it to the office and be in and out before Scott got there for his shift. He decided that he was very unlucky because while he was waiting for Deaton to finish with his last appointment Scott showed up.

“Dude what happened to you?” He asked giving Stiles the kicked puppy look. So with a sigh Stiles explained about the second body and what he and Derek had found out at the hospital while they waited for Deaton. Scott hugged him when he finished and Stiles couldn’t help but squeeze back hard, he’d missed talking with Scott like this, not about dead bodies, but just the two of them.

When Deaton was finally finished Stiles repeated everything that they knew about the bodies turning up and he was relieved when a look of recognition passed over the man’s face.

“It sounds like someone is trying to perform a very dangerous ritual and unfortunately this is only the beginning,” he said once Stiles had finished. “What they suffered is known as the Threefold Death, and I’m sure you know what I’m going to say next,” he said which caused Stiles to sigh and Scott to get a sad look on his face again.

“There’s going to be at least one more isn’t there?” Stiles asked and he almost wanted to punch something when Deaton frowned and shook his head.

“No, it’s more likely to be at least seven,” the vet said with a sigh.

“What? Why so many?” Scott asked.

“Within each step of the ritual three sacrifices are needed, virgins are the first, followed by warriors, and lastly guardians,” the vet/druid went on to explain. “It’s a ritual to gain power so whoever is resorting to it wants that power very badly to be willing to go this far,” he said with a shake of his head.

“Who’d be capable of a ritual like this?” Stiles asked, they didn’t have much to go on so anything would help.

“Anyone with the ability to wield magic would be capable of it but until we have a little more to go on I’m afraid I can’t tell you much more than that,” he said. Stiles mumbled a quick thank you and headed towards the door after telling Scott he’d see him later but Deaton called back out to him. “Stiles please let Derek know that even though I am only acting as his emissary temporarily, it is still polite practice to alert me when someone new has been accepted into the pack,” he added giving Stiles a knowing looking.

He couldn’t help but look at the man a little wide eyed before nodding his head and doing his best to ignore the surprised look on Scott’s face. He could almost hear the gears in best friend’s head going.

“Sure thing Doc,” he said before quickly slipping back out the door and calling Derek as soon as he was home.

The conversation had been short and was a strict exchange of information with Stiles explaining what Deaton had told them and Derek informing him that the scent at the hospital had been a dead end. The call ended with Stiles giving Derek an earful about the fact that the man hadn’t told him that Deaton was currently their acting emissary and had more or less just held up a neon sign for Scott. Derek merely told him that Scott was his friend and the teen felt himself becoming more and more annoyed with how short the alpha was being with him. The annoyance turned into outright anger though when he finally heard a woman in the background. He then ‘apologised’ stating that he hadn’t realised the alpha was ‘busy’ before hanging up on him.

He was half tempted to throw his phone against the wall but settled for throwing it down on the bed and then punching the wall. The looks on Erica and Boyd’s faces when they climbed in the window to see Stiles pulling his hand from the hole he’d somehow managed to make were priceless. When they asked what was wrong he took a few minutes to compose himself before answering and explaining to them about how the day had gone up the point where he’d bruised every knuckle on his right hand.

“Don’t worry about him, he’s an idiot,” Erica said while laying her head on his shoulder. The statement though caused Boyd to snort.

“Especially when it comes to _her_ ,” he added, though he looked a little unsure of himself to be saying it, and Stiles got the feeling it was because he was saying it in front of him but he wasn’t sure.

“Glad to know Isaac and I aren’t the only ones who think that,” he said with a roll of his eyes and he could see the tension disappear from the two of them. They spent the rest of the evening watching a movie until Isaac showed up dressed in his pyjamas, with clean clothes in a bag, and when they all gave him a curious look, he blushed a little.

“What? I sleep better knowing at least one of us is here… and the loft is empty,” he mumbled out and Stiles could feel himself getting angry again but he quickly squashed it this time.

“You can stay here anytime,” he said simply before scooting over so Isaac could join them.

The group watched another movie while Stiles looked up a few things and the other two filled Isaac in on everything before Erica and Boyd finally left for the night and once they were gone Stiles found himself expressing his concern about the fact that he was pretty sure Scott had figured things out. He wanted to talk to someone about the alarming amounts of stress and anger he’d been feeling in regards to Derek and Ms Blake but he kept himself from doing so because he knew Isaac was having his own troubles juggling Scott and the pack so he knew he would be able to relate to that.

\--------------

The next day, despite his dad’s permission to stay home Stiles went to school and of course did the very mature thing and avoided Scott like the plague. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk to him, it was just that he didn’t want to have what he was sure was going to turn into an epic fight at school.

Stiles ended up swinging by Derek’s loft to drop off some of the research he had for Peter to take a look at, not bothering to announce himself as he wasn’t staying long when the loft door slide open again and he turned to see a very angry Scott. After Scott had been trying to catch him all day he wasn’t really that surprised to see him but he was surprised about the fact that he’d followed him to Derek’s.

“I thought something seemed off since Derek turned back up but I didn’t think you’d actually joined his pack!” Scott growled out. Stiles merely sat the papers he had been carrying down and looked at his friend trying to keep himself as calm as possible, his magic had been escaping him for days now and he didn’t want to accidently hurt Scott.

“I did,” it was the only answer he gave because as far as he was concerned Scott still had a long way to go before he had any right to demand answers from him again, not after Gerard.

“Why would you do that?!” Scott yelled so loudly that it bordered on a roar. At that, Stiles was livid, if he’d taken a look behind him though he would have realised that all the Hales were standing there.

“Gee, I don’t know Scott, maybe it’s because he actually comes when I fucking call for help?!” Stiles yelled back and grew even angrier at the confused look on Scott’s face. “For fuck’s sake Scott it wasn’t that long ago so try to remember. I called you for help and you hung up on me! You left us in that pool for two hours! Because why? Because you were lying to us and working with the fucking enemy that’s why!” He continued, knowing that this fight had been brewing between them for a long while now.

Scott opened his mouth, no doubt to argue once again that he was doing it to protect his mother but Stiles was honestly so sick of hearing the same excuse over and over again.

“Don’t even, I know he threatened your mom but you could have told me! Me, your best friend! Instead you didn’t say anything and you lied to everyone and don’t even try to say that Allison wasn’t a factor in that because we all know you’d be lying again! She didn’t even know her mom got bitten because Derek was protecting you until you all went to the bank vault because you didn’t want her to think it was your fault!” He snapped out and at that Scott looked shocked.

“How did you know about that?” His voice lost all its anger, and just sounded tiny and sort of lost.

“Because Derek told me! He’s not the bad guy Scott, he’s not the one who bit you and all he ever did was help us out even though we were too busy being little assholes and trying to ruin his life!” He said, his voice cracking a little as he yelled before he sighed. “Look I know you don’t like the idea of having someone telling you what to do but the only one making this situation complicated is you. You seem to think that an alpha is some sort of evil overlord, and granted we didn’t have an awesome basis for comparison when Peter was a psycho ass-crazy-wolf,” This actually got a bark of laughter from said man. “But the fact that you still don’t get it just tells me you never listen and I’m sick of it!” At this Scott looked just a little broken and even though Stiles felt bad for his friend he wasn’t going to keep putting himself out there for him if he was getting nothing back.

“Then explain it to me!” Scott finally yelled back and some part of Stiles cheered, glad to see that his friend wasn’t giving up completely.

“Yes an alpha is the leader and that’s who everyone answers to but they are also the protectors of the pack, they do whatever’s needed to keep everyone safe, even if it means giving up their own life. They make sure that the pack has everything that it needs and in an ideal pack you’d never have an alpha give an order that they aren’t willing to carry out themselves and even before I knew I had a place in this pack I worked so closely with them and saw that is exactly how Derek is trying to run it,” he explained all while watching Scott’s face and slowly seeing some sort of understanding finally crossing it before he sighed again. “You’re my best friend Scott and if I didn’t think it would be good for you, you know I wouldn’t even mention it, I mean despite everything that was going on the past week didn’t it feel better to be part of that?” He asked and Scott merely nodded slowly and while he was surprised he was glad to see that at least something was getting through.

“I know and part of me knows what you’re saying is right but I think I need time,” Scott said before looking to Derek. “You better keep him safe,” he growled before quickly heading back out the door. Stiles wanted to tell him to come back but was stopped when Derek stepped up beside him and placed a hand on the back of his neck before pulling the teen to lean in and sink against his side.

“Well that was certainly more amusing than I thought it would be,” Peter said smugly before picking up the papers that Stiles had been leaving for him before the argument started. Stiles merely groaned at the statement before finally taking a step away from Derek and pouting at the alpha.

“Are you sure we can’t kill him again?” He whined out which merely caused Derek to roll his eyes before slowly walking away from Stiles, as soon as he did though Stiles felt dizzy, almost empty even. He barely managed a whimpered “Derek…” before he blacked out.

____________________________

Derek caught Stiles before he hit the floor, his own heart hammering in his chest in panic as he quickly laid the teen out on the couch before checking him over for any injuries. He knew there was no way that the teen could have been physically hurt, he’d been watching him through the whole exchange with Scott but he didn’t know what else could be wrong. He was shocked a moment later when he growled at Peter as the man reached towards Stiles, causing his uncle to bare his throat.

“Relax oh mighty one. I’m sure he’s just drained,” Peter said holding his hands up in front of himself to show that he was no longer attempting to touch. “Your little disappearing act, keeping everything bottled up and that sappy little performance with Scott certainly didn’t help matters,” He added.

“Why?” Derek asked with a growl. The question caused Peter to look at him with an expression that was a mixture of annoyed, confused and almost a little sad.

“You honestly don’t get it do you?” He responded which confused Derek even more. “So quick to take the power of an alpha but too young and stupid to know what you’re doing with it or the danger you put others in whether you realise it or not,” Peter added with a growl before heading out of room before Derek could stop him.

“You have anything you’d like to add?” He asked turning his red eyes to Cora who merely glared at him before leaving the room as well.

Derek continued to sit there with Stiles for a long while. It always seemed to come back to him. He still couldn’t believe that he’d told him about Paige, the last person he’d told had been Laura, but seeing him with the betas and so worried about him of all people, made him want to lay everything out for him. He knew his betas had started going to him and they all seemed happier for it and even though he wouldn’t admit it out loud he didn’t think he would ever be able to thank Stiles enough for that. That’s not to say that he enjoyed Peter pointing out his short comings as an alpha, but even when he did he was usually quick to point out the fact that Stiles was usually the one to make up for it.

He never imagined when he saw Stiles and Scott in the woods that he would ever come to trust the hyper teen as much as he did and yet he just kept showing up to help even when he didn’t have to, even if it was something that didn’t involve Scott at all Stiles would still be there. He’d even tried pushing him away but Stiles would just end up going off on tangents and always came back. Hell when Stiles was around it was one of the only times his inner wolf was completely settled in a way that it hadn’t been since his family was killed and despite just trying to allow everything to unfold, it scared the hell out of him to realise that somehow the spastic teen had become important enough to him to become his anchor.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when Stiles started to move around. At first he thought the teen was finally waking but the thought was chased away when the movement suddenly became thrashing about. A spike of panic ripped through him before he reached out and placed a hand on Stiles’ chest and he sighed a little in relief when this seemed to settle him back down. Just the brief moment of seeing him struggle like that against whatever the hell was in his nightmares made something in Derek ache. So he continued to sit there, moving his hand so it was resting on Stiles’ arm, until the teen finally woke.

At first Stiles didn’t say anything and merely blinked at Derek owlishly before a giant yawn escaped him which made Derek chuckle lowly.

“You’re laughing so I’m not sure if I’m awake or having the weirdest nightmare ever… or it could be a dream but if it’s not I’m going to shut up or else this will get really awkward,” he finally said still sounding tired.

“How do you feel?” He asked with another chuckle after growling at the teen making his eyes go wide again.

“Seriously? Better than I have, what did you do, alpha whammy my nightmare? Is that like a thing you can do now?” Stiles asked finally sitting up.

“Alpha wham… where the hell do you come up with this shit?” Derek asked with what was no doubt a dumfounded expression on his face. He honestly didn’t think he would ever understand quite how Stiles’ mind worked, not that he was sure he wanted to.

“You know what I’m talking about you get all red eyed and grr,” he said while making little clawing motions with his hands. “Oh and your eyebrows disappear… seriously where do they go?” He asked suddenly staring intently at Derek’s brows as if he were expecting them to disappear right then, so Derek did the mature thing, shifted and growled a little. “That’s exactly what I’m talking about… see you knew all along and your eyebrows have gone MIA again,” he added with a smug look, not seeming at all concerned by the growling, so Derek shifted back with a roll of his eye.

“I didn’t ‘whammy’ anything, why did you ask?” Derek finally asked, his eyes narrowing when Stiles’ heart rate jumped up rather quickly.

“No reason, no reason at all,” the teen said suddenly jumping up from the couch and making his way towards the door. In fact Stiles had just reached the door when Derek growled lowly before reaching him and turning the teen back towards him, slamming him against the back of the door.

He was half tempted to let a pleased rumble escape himself when he realised he couldn’t smell any fear coming from his human and he was only a little surprised when he clearly picked up on the scent of arousal and something else, the arousal wasn’t what caused him pause though, it was the other scent that he couldn’t quiet place and yet it seemed so familiar.

“Stiles lying to your alpha isn’t usually the smartest thing to do,” he finally said after a quiet moment.

“Dude, Derek it’s really better that I don’t say anything or this situation is going to end up becoming all types of awkward that I’m sure you really don’t feel like dealing with because I know I don’t even want to deal with it,” Derek merely sighed with another roll of his eyes before letting Stiles go.

“You’ll tell me why you asked that eventually and don’t call me dude,” he snapped before watching the lanky teen run out like he was being chased by the Alpha pack.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo yeah Stiles may be losing it a bit and he's apparently Derek's anchor, not that our silly alpha will be telling him that!


	4. My heart was flawed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little tiny baby bit of smut that leads to a whole lot of confusion and some angst for poor Stiles... he just wants some alone time now...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm happy to see so many people enjoying this! So that you for the kudos and bookmarks, I don't know who you all are but know that I love you and you're amazing! I hope you all continue to enjoy it even with the torture I'm about to put poor Stiles through... As always I blame Mumford & Sons for everything. Title for this chapter is from their song: "To Darkness".

By the time Stiles got home he was honestly surprised that he hadn’t got pulled over for speeding, it wasn’t that he was attempting to break the law he just needed to put as much space between himself and Derek as possible. Being around him was making it harder and harder to control himself. He’d honestly felt the urge to rut against the alpha when he’d slammed him against the door and if that wasn’t a suicidal tendency he didn’t know what was and death by pissed off, broody, alpha wasn’t high on his list of ways to go out, sure maybe being fucked to death by pissed off, broody, alpha but… no, no he needed to stop thinking about it, he really, really did.

He holed himself up in his room and planned to stay that way the rest of the night, thinking over what had happened as well as his fight with Scott. He wasn’t surprised that he actually felt better having gotten everything off his chest he just wished it hadn’t come to that. He sighed as he slumped down onto his bed before pulling his knees up to his chest. He kept thinking about everything going on, his mind racing about so much that he almost hadn’t heard the knock on the door downstairs.

Since someone was knocking he assumed the chances of it being a wolf were pretty slim, at least until he opened the door and found himself face to face with the twins and a blind man he’d never seen before.

“SHIT!” He yelled flailing a moment while he tried to slam the door shut; he knew that wouldn’t really accomplish anything, but it made him feel a little better. His eyes widened when he realised the door didn’t shut the whole way and when he caught sight of a cane blocking it he knew why just before the door flew open and the found himself pressed up against the wall by the twins, each on a side digging their claws into his shoulders.

“You’ll have to forgive the intrusion Stiles, just testing a theory,” the blind man said before his mouth filled with fangs and he moved closer.

Stiles could feel his panic spiking; this wasn’t how this was supposed to happen. No way was he supposed to get the bite from some psycho! Where were his awesome barriers now when he needed them? He could feel it getting harder to breathe the closer the other man got to him and he could swear he was just about to pass out when he spotted Derek at the door, though how he knew it was Derek was beyond him because he was shifted, and not just beta shifted, he looked like a giant black wolf and his growl was loud enough to rattle the glass in the house. The blind man suddenly pulled back from him with a smirk.

“So it seems my theory was correct. I’ve gotten the information I needed, we’re done here,” he said stepping back from Stiles as Derek moved in between them and before Stiles could blink the twins had pulled away and everyone had disappeared leaving a very sore and pissed off teen behind.

He wasn’t alone for long as Derek came back in, whining lowly in the back of his throat before gently nosing at the teen’s shoulder. Stiles hissed at the sudden movement but shook his head when Derek made to pull away as Stiles carefully peeled his shirts off.

“Not your fault,” he said simply before he caught himself scratching Derek lightly behind his ears. He was about to pull away when he realised that the wolf was actually leaning into the touch. “How’d you manage…” His question was broken off when Peter came charging into the house.

“Not at all what I was expecting to find so I’m just going to leave these,” he said with a smirk before laying a pair of pants on one of the chairs and heading back out.

The wolf seemed to get the message before he walked over to where the pants where, picked them up between his teeth and headed upstairs, leaving Stiles to assume he was meant to follow after him. He must have let a curse escape when he walked into his room just in time to see a perfectly toned ass disappear into tight jeans because Derek spun around and his still red eyes flashed for a moment as a smirk crossed his face before it turned serious again as he caught sight of the claw marks once more.

“So a full wolf, that’s a thing now? At least it isn’t Peter’s demented looking full alpha form, that thing was actually kind of gross… and licking is apparently a thing now…” he said trailing off with a whimper as Derek was suddenly lapping at the small wounds.

Stiles was half tempted to try and pull away from the man while the other half wanted to climb him like a tree but he didn’t have time to make up his mind when he was suddenly lifted up before being tossed down on his bed, with a very aroused Derek looming over him, before he went right back to licking at his shoulders. Licking while standing, hot, licking while laying down and throw in a little grinding and Stiles was sure that his brain was about to melt and leak out of his ears. God he shouldn’t want this, not when Derek was clearly head over heels for Ms Blake, no matter how wrong that felt, Stiles didn’t want to ruin that for the man not if that’s what he really wanted, not matter how amazing Derek’s tongue felt or how awesome the light grazing of his sharp ass teeth against his neck was.

His eyes rolled back when Derek’s hips rolled against his own and he felt the man’s erection press against his own, the thought that it was because of him was heady and despite his mind screaming at him to stop, he found himself rutting up against Derek and meeting him thrust for thrust, until his back arched and he came hard in his jeans, it was another few minutes of Derek thrusting against him before he tensed as well, looking down at Stiles with eyes that were too red for him to be in any sort of control before he growled.

“Mine,” Stiles merely nodded his head at this before the heavier man collapsed on top of him. The two lay there for a long while slowly pulling themselves back together. Stiles knew all of Derek’s brain had re-joined the party when he suddenly tensed.

“Not that I’m complaining, but you want to explain what the hell just happened?” Stiles asked trying to stay casual. If it were possibly he would have sworn that Derek tensed even more. “Derek, seriously relax, willing participant to whatever the hell that was, we never have to speak of it again,” he rambled out and he wanted to say more he really did but Derek was growling again so he stopped.

“I knew you were in trouble,” was all he said before climbing off Stiles and hoping out the window leaving a very confused and frustrated Stiles behind.

\-------------------

Okay so Derek had known he was in trouble was that the theory the Alpha’s were testing? God they needed to talk about that and despite the fact that Derek had just left, he sent him a text telling him so, he wasn’t surprised when he didn’t get one back. Instead he climbed out of bed and made his way into the bathroom to shower; having his jeans stuck to him wasn’t high on his agenda.

Needless to say he was in the shower for a long time, his brain kicking around all the ‘what ifs’ and ‘whys’ but none of them made any sense and none of them made him feel any less dirty, it didn’t matter that he wanted something to happen between himself and Derek because the man very clearly stated that he was with Ms Blake. It left him feeling disgusted with himself. When he finally drug himself out of the shower his heart started to hammer in his chest once more when he realised the marks the twins had left were healed, in fact there was no trace left of them. He turned to reach for his jeans when he froze mid movement. There on his back where the red spot had been for days was a very faint triskele.

“Oh shit… no… nononononono…” he muttered to himself before running into his room and grabbing the mountain ash he kept there, sighing when he realised he could still touch it.

A hand landing on his shoulder caused him to jump about five feet in the air and flail for all he was worth only to find Cora standing behind him rolling her eyes in patented Hale fashion when it was clear she wanted to laugh at him.

“Jesus! I didn’t really think being a Creeperwolf and being a Sourwolf were genetic!” He exclaimed which caused Cora to actually smirk a little. He knew they were about the same age and thought it sad that she wouldn’t let herself laugh. “You know just because Alpha Sourwolf is your brother doesn’t mean you can’t laugh, I mean I’m funny as hell, you’ll give me a complex if you don’t!” He whined out which finally caused the girl to crack a bit and chuckle in a way that told him it had been some time since she’d allowed herself to do that, but not as long as they all might think.

He noticed that she glanced around for a moment obviously trying to decide where to put herself so he helped by offering her his desk chair. “Something I can do for you?” He finally asked as he sat himself on the end of his bed, knowing he should probably feel far more awkward about the fact that he was only wearing a towel but not really caring right then.

“You have a mark,” she said giving him a curious look. “You have my brother’s mark,” she growled out which caused Stiles to blink at her in surprise.

“Look this is new okay, it only just showed up,” he said turning so she could get a better look at it. “So let’s figure out why it happened before we kill the human okay?” He said before standing up and grabbing some clean clothes from the drawer.

“Why would I kill you, you’re not the one being an idiot,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “You have his mark and yet he keeps going to that woman,” she said with a huff and shake of her head. “Although it smells like he doesn’t always,” she added with a smirk as Stiles stared at her with his mouth hanging open.

“On that note I’m going to get dressed and continue to try and not freak out,” he said before disappearing from the room. When he came back in Cora was merely still sitting in the chair waiting for him.

“I honestly don’t know why I’m here, it’s just those three are always going on about you and Peter too, though I’m not sure why…” She trailed off causing Stiles to blink at her, well at least she was honest and he had no idea he was all the rage apparently. It was also good to know that she wasn’t just there to mock him about his handy dandy new mark, not that she would have known about it before she got there... thinking hurt right then...

“Okay… did you need to talk to me? I mean because that’s usually what the others come here for, though I think Isaac mostly just comes for snuggles because I am apparently fucking awesome at that but… despite what Sourwolf thinks I’m really good at listening too,” he said finally before flashing Cora a bright smile which made her tense for a moment before she slowly allowed herself to relax.

She hadn’t been lying when she said she didn’t know why she’d come to him, but she’d heard the other three betas talking about Stiles constantly over the past few weeks and they always smelled like him now, hell even Derek did! In fact before she’d left she’d been listening to them talk about how much they didn’t trust the woman that Derek was seeing and that for whatever reason they were glad that Stiles agreed with them, and it was true she didn’t trust her either, it was just a feeling, something that made her wolf restless but despite that her brother was her alpha she was still too new to the pack to feel comfortable enough to speak out, they’d been apart for so long and Derek was nothing like she remembered.

_She was slinking towards the door just needing to get out of the loft when a new voice cut her off._

_“I have it on very good authority that our dear Red is home right now,” Peter said walking towards her. She frowned at the man before glaring a little._

_“And why exactly would I care about that?” She growled out but she was shocked quiet when Peter’s expression turned serious and he looked more like the man that she remembered._

_“Cora, you’ve been with us for a few weeks now and I know you haven’t told Derek where you’ve been, I wouldn’t expect you to tell me after everything, and I know you don’t exactly know how you feel about this pack, but what I do know is that Stiles is apparently very good at whatever the hell it is he does, because you would have recognised Derek even less than you do now if it weren’t for him,” he said simply and the statement surprised her._

_Even before the fire it was rare for Peter to give anyone any sort of credit; maybe dying had been good for him. She waited for him to say something else but instead he merely walked away having obviously said his piece._

She found herself gripping the arms of the chair tightly for a moment before letting out a sigh and looking at the other teen.

“I haven’t told Derek yet where I’d been before the Alphas grabbed me,” she mumbled out glaring at the floor as she spoke.

“I get the feeling that you think whatever it is you tell him is going to hurt him,” Stiles said which caused Cora to look up at him in surprise. “Sorry, I know I said I would just listen but I can see it when you’re around him, you get this weird sort of angry, sad, nervous look, but believe me I get it, the guy is full of man pain and probably nothing like the Derek from before,” He said which surprised Cora even more. “My dad said he was really good outgoing kid before the fire, but I don’t quite get why that would keep you from telling him or hell even your Uncle Creeper where you’ve been and how you survived,” Stiles said prompting her to sigh and shake her head a little.

“I was grounded when it happened, I had snuck out to go to a friend’s house, and I knew my mom knew it was doing it, nothing got by her but she didn’t stop me. I didn’t hear about it until the next day and by then I couldn’t find Derek or Laura, everything smelled so bad at the house, I couldn’t trace their scents, all I could smell was smoke for days…” she said with a shaky sigh, looking back at the floor again. “I bounced around for a little between friends of the family before a small pack offered to take me in and…I was actually happy with them… they couldn’t replace my family but they treated me like I was one of their own and it made things easier.”

At that Stiles understood why she was reluctant to tell Derek where she had been. “You know this new version of him pretty well,” he said finally “I’m going to go out on a limb and say you were on your way back here to find him when you got kidnapped by those assholes,” Stiles said which Cora merely nodded at. “You’re worried that Derek will blame himself for you getting taken because you were coming for him,” another nod. “You’re right, he would because he’s an idiot with a guilt complex that would fill an ocean but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t tell him, just make sure you hit him hard enough in the head to make him realise that it wasn’t his fault,” he finished with a smirk that caused Cora to chuckle a little before standing.

“Thank you,” she said before quickly butting her heard against the same shoulder that the other three seemed to like to rub on before she was back out his window as quickly as she’d come in leaving Stiles to stand there and wonder for a moment if that had all really happened.

\-------------------

When he woke up the next morning he felt the strange tingling between his shoulder blades again for a few moments before it finally went away, as if it needed to remind him about what was on his back now and he got a good look at the clock before he flailed his way out of bed, he was going to be late! That was all he needed on a Saturday morning a pissed off Sourwolf especially after their ‘exchange’ the day before! He changed quickly and headed out to the Jeep before tearing his way to Scott’s only for Melissa to open the door and look at him surprised.

“Stiles, I thought Scott said you were all meeting at Derek’s,” she said as she opened the door. He couldn’t help but catch the small grimace that passed over her face as she mentioned the alpha by name, but that wasn’t really something he had time to address.

“Yeah Scott asked me to pick…” It was then that he realised that her car wasn’t there. “And apparently didn’t think it was a good idea to tell me he didn’t need a ride anymore,” he huffed out as the woman gave him an apologetic pat on the arm. He arrived at the loft about ten minutes late and as soon as he opened the door Derek could easily be heard.

“You’re late Stiles,” he said evenly, which surprised the teen a bit because he had been expecting him to growl at him for sure.

“I would have been on time if some asshole of a best friend had told me he didn’t need a ride anymore,” Stiles said shooting a now sheepish looking Scott a glare; he was surprised again when the alpha growled at the other teen as well.

Everything settled down after that and everyone started going over whatever they had happened to pick up information wise over the week, Lydia filled them in on how Jackson was doing in London, and they were just getting ready to start discussing their plans in regards to the Alpha pack when suddenly all the betas (minus Peter who wasn’t too far away though and Scott who was still trying to keep himself separate from the group despite the fact that he’d shown up for the meeting) were all near Stiles and glaring at the door. At first Stiles wasn’t sure what the hell was going on until the door opened to reveal a now surprised looking Jennifer Blake who slowly made her way in and over to Derek.

“Is now a bad time?” She asked him softly, moving to stand behind him just a little which upset Stiles to no end. He just couldn’t shake the feeling that she had no right to be standing where she was and he couldn’t help but wonder if it was because of the mark on his back. There were very few reasons they happened and none of them would be pleased that a non-pack member was that close to the alpha. Whether it was the tension in the room or the fact that Stiles was practically vibrating in his seat with anger, the betas pressed closer to him and it surprisingly started to calm him down.

“We’re just discus…” whatever he was about to say was cut off when Cora of all people suddenly growled and growled loudly.

“She’s not pack Derek!” She snapped shooting the other woman a glare while Derek looked at his baby sister, something like anger, surprise, and contentment all fighting with each other, until all the other betas started to growl lowly as well backing up her statement, and Derek’s eyes flashed red, Stiles knew this wasn’t going to end well, so he did what he does best and jumped right in the middle of it literally.

“What were the rules we all agreed on for these things Sourwolf,” He said getting the older man’s attention on him and off the betas… god he shouldn’t find those red eyes hot. “No big bad alpha unless there is a reason,” he said simply and when Derek went to open his mouth to object Stiles already knew what he was going to try and in a fit of madness he reached out and placed his hand lightly on Derek’s arm. “And no one who isn’t part of the pack unless we’ve all agreed,” he said fixing Derek with a look that just dared the alpha to tell him he was wrong. Hell he was even prepared to point out that if they were going to start including non-pack members then they might as well start inviting Chris and Allison to join them!

Derek’s eyes flashed brighter for a moment before he gave a short growl as the red slowly faded out. What Stiles didn’t know was that Derek was already feeling calmer from catching the scent rolling off the teen, Stiles own unique scent mixed with almost all the members of the pack, it was something that had his wolf rolling over happily, but he wasn’t about to tell anyone that. Instead he walked Jennifer to the door, getting a quick kiss on the cheek from her, which got another round of growls from the betas and a flinch from Stiles that Derek didn’t see, before promising to see her later.

There were a few more growls but everyone eventually settled back down and the meeting continued on. Derek informed everyone of what had happened at Stiles' the day before, though Stiles noticed that him being a full wolf and the mind blowing orgasms were left out, which led to whines from the betas and an argument between Scott and Derek about Stiles, Cora hinting at the mark until Stiles made something in the loft shatter in annoyance and Derek then informing them all on what he knew about the Alphas.

“Their leader’s name is Deucalion; he was friends with my mother,” he finally said after a long while.

“I’m going to assume that was before the crazy?” Stiles asked with a scoff which got him an eye roll. Derek merely went on to inform them that he’d gotten a call from Deaton earlier, who’d gotten a call from the emissary for the Alpha’s, but all they had said was that the pack was recruiting. So sadly until the Alpha pack made another move they were left spinning their wheels, so it was decided that they would continue training.

Toward the end Derek noticed the exchange of glances between Stiles and the betas (minus Scott) so he wasn’t surprised when everyone but Stiles left once he deemed them finished. Derek merely raised a brow at the serious look on Stiles' face. Stiles figured now was as good a time as any to ask about his dad, even though he knew Cora was hoping he’d bring up the mark. He just couldn’t do that to Derek, he couldn’t force him into some sort of relationship with him when he was clearly happy elsewhere.

“Why didn’t you tell them about you finally managing a full shift?” He asked suddenly which earned him a surprised look from the alpha.

“How’d you know that was the first time?” Derek asked with a raised brow.

“Peter isn’t nearly as hard to get information out of as you are, he told me a little about your family and Deaton filled in the rest, told me about your mom being the only alpha around who could manage a full shift like that,” he explained with a shrug. “I’m not stupid Derek; I know Deaton is training me to take over as the pack emissary,” he added with a roll of his eyes.

“I figure the less people who knew about it the safer we are, my mother’s ability didn’t always attract the best attention,” he said with a huff and Stiles simply nodded. “That wasn’t want you wanted to ask me,” he added with a knowing look and smirking a little when Stiles started at him open mouthed for a moment.

“Would it be okay if I told my dad?” Stiles asked and then quickly went to elaborate that he meant about the pack and not about whatever the hell was going on between them but obviously Derek knew what he was getting at.

“I thought you didn’t want him to know about all of this,” Derek said simply.

“I didn’t and I don’t but I realised back when shit was going down at the station that he’s going to be in danger whether he knows or not, and that maybe if he knows he’ll have a better chance of keeping himself safe,” He said with a shaky sigh, which clearly spoke of his discomfort about everything at the moment as the two of them finally moved towards the door.

“When you decide you’re ready to tell him I’ll be there,” Derek finally said before reaching up to squeeze Stiles’ shoulder for a moment before the teen smiled at him brightly before turning to leave glad to be getting out of there with some sort of dignity intact.

It was then almost like Derek couldn’t stop himself when he slowly leaned forward and started to scent along the side of Stiles neck. He growled encouragingly when Stiles tipped his head back for him, that familiar scent, stronger than before. A barely contained moan escaped from the teen as Derek flipped him around and pressed him up against the door again. Derek couldn’t think of anything else besides touching Stiles, if the frantic movement of his hands and pleased growl that escaped him as Stiles arched up into his touch were anything to go by.

“If you don’t tell me to stop I’m going to fuck you right up against this door,” Derek growled out, the words a little hard to understand as his mouth filled with sharp teeth.

Stiles arched forward into the touch as he moaned lowly at the statement. He knew the smart thing would be to pull away, to get out of the loft and get as far away from Derek as possible again, if not for his own sake then for the sake of Derek’s guilt complex and the sake of whatever the hell kind of relationship the man was trying to build with Ms Blake, but the moment those eyes flashed red again reason more or less flew out the window and when Derek was suddenly sliding down to his knees in front of him Stiles told reason to go fuck itself. He was a seventeen year old virgin being offered sex, or at the very least a blow job by the man he was pining after, he was only human not a damn saint!

He moaned lowly in the back of his throat and slowly opened his eyes, not sure when they had closed in the first place and glanced down to see Derek between his legs, fangs gone with his dick now hanging out before wrapping his sinful lips around it and taking him to the hilt.

Stiles moaned loudly at this, banging his head against the back of the door while he attempted to find something to grab onto to support himself as Derek started to bob his head up and down. God Stiles was sure the man was trying to suck his soul out through his dick but he honestly couldn’t bring himself to care when Derek started to circle his tongue around the crown of his dick before licking at the large vein on the underside.

“Sweet mother of…” he moaned out squeezing his eyes shut for a moment before looking back down to meet those bright red eyes. “God that’s hotter than it has any right to be!” He gasped out before his hips jerked forward and Derek let out a growl of approval, before pulling off Stiles’ dick slowly before running his tongue up and down the length for a moment before taking him back into his mouth.

Not knowing what to do with his hands Stiles buried them in Derek’s thick hair, pulling as he gasped again at the sudden feeling of a finger tracing around his hole. He groaned as Derek slid his finger into him, not even having the time to wonder about when the hell he’d slicked it up before his eyes were rolling back in his head the feeling of the suction on his dick and the slowly thrusting finger in his ass proving to be a mind blowing combination.

“Ugh… God, Derek… gonna…” he barely managed to gasp out as Derek hit his prostate and sent him tipping over the edge.

If someone said there was a hotter sight than Derek Hale swallowing, Stiles would be the first to call bullshit. He was sure he was about to collapse when Derek pulled away from him slowly, his attention focused on the phone that had obviously been buzzing in his pocket. It was then that Stiles noticed two things as he slowly regained his footing and tucked himself back into his pants; one Derek’s eyes were back to normal and two he was talking to Ms Blake.

The bile slowly started to creep up from his stomach and he honestly couldn’t believe himself. He had the sudden sinking feeling that the past two times that Derek hadn’t really been involved in the activities, and that made him no better than Kate.

“I can’t…” He hadn’t even realised that he’d spoken aloud until Derek’s attention was suddenly back on him.

“Stiles?” Derek asked his gaze surprisingly soft as he put his phone back in his pocket and moved back towards him, but Stiles shook his head at this.

“No, NO! Don’t touch me!” Stiles screamed out, his magic pushing Derek back from him, as he brought his hands up towards his shaking head. “Don’t… I can’t… too much…” He said before turning and heading from the loft leaving a very confused Derek behind.

_________________

As soon as the door was shut and he couldn’t hear Stiles any longer Derek let himself bury his head in his hands and let out a shuddering sigh. He’d thought Stiles enjoyed everything just as much as he had, was he rejecting him? The thought of losing Stiles sent a pain through Derek like he had never felt before. True their last two exchanges had started off being driven by his wolf, especially the first, but he had enough control, or at least he liked to think he did, to stop them is he wanted to, if Stiles had said no.

Was it because of Jennifer? Is that why Stiles kept pulling away when all he wanted to do was pull him closer? In all honesty he didn’t know why he kept going back to the woman, she was clingy in a way that got under his skin and not in a good way but she reminded him of Stiles in a lot of ways and sometimes she reminded him of Stiles too much, like she was purposely trying to be like him and it alarmed him to say the least.

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been sitting there thinking about Stiles so he was a bit surprised when Cora and Isaac suddenly walked back and looked shocked to see him. The three blinked at each other for a moment before Cora suddenly sneered at him and Isaac frowned a bit, both of them no doubt catching Stiles scent in the loft.

“Thought you had a date?” She bit out which finally reminded Derek that he was supposed to see Jennifer. Instead of rising to the obvious bait he merely stood and headed out for the night.

_____________________

Sunday brought homework, more intense tingling on his back, self-loathing, and time with his dad for Stiles, at least until the Sheriff got called in to work, much to the teen’s annoyance, so he’d spent the rest of the day lounging on the couch watching ‘Twilight Zone’ reruns and trying not to think about what had happened before finally heading up to his room… not that he was expecting what he found.

“I said my door was open to the pups, you are sooo not a pup Creeperwolf,” he said as soon as he realised it was Peter who was currently pacing back and forth in his room. He was getting ready to make another witty comment when he noticed just how agitated the older man was, it was the first time Stiles had ever really seen him with anything less than perfect control. Peter’s eyes kept flashing back and forth, almost in time with his pacing and his claws kept growing and shortening. He might not trust him anymore than he did Scott right then, but he was pack and something wasn’t right.

“Peter,” he said finally moving in the way of the pacing and causing the man to stand still before he surprised even himself by reaching out with both hands and placing them on the wolf’s shoulders. “Dude, seriously calm down and tell me what’s going on, you’re scaring the shit out of me more now than when you were the alpha,” he said, both of them knowing that he wasn’t lying.

“That woman is wrong Stiles, everything about her is wrong,” the eldest Hale growled out, Stiles didn’t need a name to know that Peter was talking about Ms Blake so he merely nodded his head for him to continue. “She’s not normal, she feels wrong, and I don’t know what’s happening to Derek!” For a brief moment Stiles could see the hidden concern in the man’s eyes before they closed themselves off again. He really was different since coming back and once again it was proven to Stiles.

“What do you mean?” He asked finally removing his hands and sitting down on his bed, feeling safer around Peter now having seen that than he ever had before. “When he came in this morning it was like he wasn’t there. Lights were on but no one was home, if you will, and that wasn’t the first time I’d seen him like that after being with her. Almost as if he were…” Stiles cut off his train of thought.

“In a trance?” He asked suddenly as a shudder wracked through him.

“Exactly. I’m beginning to fear our assessment of the Alpha pack being here is about more than just our fucked up little dysfunctional pack was correct, Red.” He said finally calming enough to slip back to the now familiar nickname. Stiles sighed before motioning towards the stack of books on the edge of his desk.

“I’ll see what I can find on my end and ask Lydia to do the same. You find whatever you can and we’ll meet up to compare notes soon,” He finally said with another sigh before standing up again realising he’d left his phone downstairs.

“I think I’m about to earn my nickname,” Peter said suddenly before he was in Stiles’ personal space and rubbing his head against his shoulder. He was surprised when Stiles merely reached up and patted him on the shoulder. When Peter pulled back and raised a brow Stiles’ merely shrugged.

“You’re creepy as fuck dude, kind of a dick, and I know you'll never ask for forgiveness, but you’re pack,” he said simply with a cheeky grin before heading back out of his room. After a quick call to Lydia, telling her what they were looking for Stiles headed back up to his room he was a little surprised to find Peter still there but it was obvious the man was scenting the air in the room.

“Red…” Peter started with a smirk on his face, but a sudden feeling of guilt and anger washed over Stiles causing things in the room to shake a little.

“Don’t… just don’t,” he gasped out and he was surprised when Peter’s look turned more serious.

“Tell me,” it was all Peter said before against his better judgement Stiles was telling him everything. It’s not like he had many options nor were there many people who would understand was losing your mind felt like, nor could they explain things. By the time he finished talking his face was beet red and he didn’t think he would ever be able to look Peter in the eye again but he couldn’t help but look at the man with something akin to anger on his face when he started laughing.

“You’ll have to forgive me but this is fucking priceless,” Peter said wiping his eye. “My nephew truly is an idiot to not notice,” he added with a chuckle.

“How the hell could you find this funny?” Stiles yelled, before throwing his phone across the room in anger. “It doesn’t matter how I feel about him I should have told him to stop… I should have left… I’m no fucking better than Kate!” He yelled, his voice becoming a little hysterical as the words escaped. He let out a choked noise when he was suddenly slammed against the wall with a very wolfed out Peter in his face.

“You are nothing like that bitch!” He snarled. “You didn’t use him; I assure you that the moron was all there, you’re his mate,” he said, slowly pulling back from the Stiles as he slid down to the floor.

“I… what… why would… how…” His mind was going a million different directions at once and he didn’t know if he could handle it right then. “I think I need to be alone for a while.” He said finally.

Peter merely nodded and gave him a look that would probably pass for gentle on anyone but Stiles was actually almost relieved to see the usual calculating look on his face.

“Whatever you do, don’t tell him,” he said just before Peter went to slip back out his window, the man looked like he was about to argue but Stiles merely glared at him. “You do and I’ll find a way to kill you that you won’t come back from,” he snapped out before Peter merely smirked at him, gave him a nod and slipped out into the night leaving Stiles alone with one thought.

What the hell was he going to do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep... totally went there... *shrugs* it happened. Things are going to start getting a bit more intense in the next chapter and I'm hoping by the end of that one I'll know how long this story will end up being.


	5. Your tears feel warm as they fall on my forearms...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group finally learns what's behind the murders. The return of an epic bromance and Stiles finally hits his breaking point as things come to a head between himself and Derek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so happy to see people enjoying this so much! I think I've finally decided on ten chapters for this but I'm thinking of turning it into the first work in a series because I want to play with some other stuff as well good idea?
> 
> Anyway disclaimers in chapter 2 and as always I blame Mumford & Sons for everything! This chapter title is from "I Gave You All".

At first Stiles tried to keep away from the whole pack, texting Lydia with whatever information he had found either about the murders or the Alpha pack, but the desperate looks he started to get from Isaac eventually broke him down, and that was only the second day away from them all! He found himself giving in to the ‘baby’ of the group, merely nodding at him at the end of the school day, and wasn’t all that surprised to see him when night rolled around.

“So don’t get mad, but Peter told us,” Isaac said biting his lip as he spoke. Stiles couldn’t help but sigh at this.

“I suppose I should have been a little more specific when I told him not to tell Derek,” he huffed out before falling back on his bed. “I should have told him not to tell anyone.”

“I don’t understand though, I mean he’s your mate right? That’s what Peter said,” Isaac said with a shake of his head.

“It doesn’t matter though, he seems perfectly happy with Ms Blake, how can I screw that up for him with whatever this is, he’s had too little to be happy about in life I’d be the world’s biggest asshole if I ruined that for him,” Stiles said, a little bit of anger creeping into his voice as he waved his hand around.

“Stiles you’ve only been away from the pack for two days and Derek has been unbearable!” Isaac exclaimed which caused some of the anger to drain.

“What?” He really couldn’t find anything else to say to that.

“He’s been running everyone ragged! If he’s not, what the hell do you call it, brooding! If he’s not brooding around the loft he’s snapping at all of us about not training enough!” the blonde whined out, which had Stiles reaching out and running his fingers through the curls.

“I’ll figure it out, promise; it’s just a bit much you know? I’m not saying I don’t want him or anything but it’s a lot to take in at once,” he said, his voice going soft as the two of them settled down for the night. Thankfully Isaac didn’t say more, he just merely nodded his head before the two dropped off for the night.

_______________

“I thought humans couldn’t have these,” Stiles hissed out the next afternoon at Deaton’s. He’d read about marks in one of the books that Deaton had given him. It was rare to come across a mated pair of werewolves with marks but if you did you’d apparently find that they lived up to the expression ‘power couple’. It was said that only wolves of great power would be strong enough to mark their mate, and they weren’t written as just mates in the usual sense when it came to werewolves, these were mates of equal power. For one wolf to mark another in such a way meant that the wolf doing the marking had found its equal in power and that it would settle for no other than the one it had chosen.

“Michael’s first appeared when he’d agreed to take the bite,” Peter supplied before smirking at Stiles, clearly referring to Derek and Cora’s father. “Red… did you finally agree to the bite?” He asked with an annoying pleased lilt to his voice which Stiles scowled at.

“Obviously you ass!” he snapped out.

“Tell me oh squishy human,” Cora teased using a name she’d heard Stiles refer to himself as on more than one occasion, “Is he really a Sourwolf or is that just guess work?” She asked with a wiggle of her brows which caused both Peter and Stiles’ to go up. Peter because he was surprised and pleased at his niece’s openness and Stiles because he couldn’t believe Cora had just asked that about her own brother… or at least he couldn’t until he remembered that he was dealing with wolves and they weren’t exactly known for their privacy so instead he just groaned and rolled his eyes leaving both Hales to snicker at him. Deaton was oddly quiet about the whole thing.

“Anything to add Doc?” Stiles asked with a sigh.

“Well this would explain the mood swings you’ve been telling me about. You’ve been marked but remain unclaimed, that’s more than enough to affect your control, think of it similar to the effect of a wolf losing their anchor,” the man finally said.

“In other words I’m dangerous to everyone and not just myself,” Stiles mumbled out with a frown.

“Unfortunately yes and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Alpha pack or whatever it is behind these murders is aware of that. Whether intended or not on Derek’s part it is changing the very nature of your spark like we feared it might,” the vet added with a sigh.

“Fan-fucking-tastic.” Stiles grumbled before he stormed out of the office leaving behind two surprised Hales and a worried Druid.

The next day after the impromptu visit with Deaton, a night buried under Isaac, Erica, and Boyd, and a verbal tongue lashing from Lydia for not getting in touch with her sooner, and a promise to fill her in on everything soon, Stiles was feeling more like himself and slightly more prepared for the cross-country practice they were all being forced to go to because of their coach. Apparently the man was determined to keep them all in shape even though half the team looked like they just got done shooting for a fitness magazine. At least he thought he was ready until, try as he might, Scott ended up getting an eyeful of the mark on his back after Danny so helpfully pointed out he suddenly had the same tattoo as ‘Cousin Miguel’.

“The hell Stiles?” He asked in a growl. Not wanting to have yet another fight with his friend Stiles sighed and once the locker room cleared out, after he shot Isaac and Boyd a look that said he would be fine, he quietly explained what had happened and what was going on. By the time he was done he had been expecting more growling and angry words so he was completely surprised when Scott suddenly hugged him.

“Dude, what are you gonna do?” He finally asked as the two of them made their way out to join the others.

“What can I do? I mean he’s with… _her_ … I can’t just demand he stop seeing her,” Stiles said with a sigh as the two jogged along the path.

“Actually if what Deaton’s told me about mates is right, you totally could,” Scott said with frown.

“And what Scott, have him hate me forever for keeping him away from who he actually wants to be with? Just because wolfy Derek wants to get all up in this doesn’t mean that regular broody Derek does,” he said with a sigh and shake of his head.

“Dude, you do realise that what our wolves want and we want aren’t actually that far off from each other right?” Scott shot back with a quirked brow. That bit of information almost made Stiles hit the dirt face first.

“I actually did not know that,” he panted out when Scott reached out a hand to steady him. They then shared a look and Stiles couldn’t help but smile at him. “I’ve missed this,” he said suddenly.

“Me too man, me too,” Scott said before giving Stiles an epic bro hug.

God it had barely been a week since their fight but it had honestly felt longer and now here was Scott giving him information that made him feel like less of a sleaze and Stiles honestly had no idea how to thank him for that. He was pulled back to the moment though when Scott’s eyes suddenly flashed.

“What, what is it?” He asked quickly looking around.

“Isaac,” was all Scott managed to get out before he was taking off with Stiles hot on his heels suddenly wondering if he was going to have to have this same conversation with his best friend in the future.

The two had just gotten over the hill when they noticed Isaac in an obvious shouting match with the twins. Scott grabbed hold of Isaac pulling the other teen back from the growling alphas while Stiles surprisingly got right up in their faces, his magic deciding it wanted to play ball for a change and pushing the two back from him.

“Some big bad alphas you two are, trying to provoke a lone beta!” he snapped out, glaring at the two of them. “You assholes think this is some sort of game?!” He continued on. If he could have seen himself he would have noticed that his eyes had taken on a reddish tint once again and his teeth, looked more like fangs in that moment. He did notice that the twins were suddenly moving back away from him and he could see them starting to whisper to one another, and damn if that didn’t annoy him.

“Duke didn’t say anything about him being Hale’s mate.” One of them, Ethan he thought was the one, said. He didn’t even want to think about how he heard them but he had and apparently everyone knew he was the idiot’s mate, except the idiot himself. God how was this his dam life?

“You bet your ass I am and that’s my pup you’re fucking with!” He snapped out before his attention was broken away from the two of them when Boyd let out a yell that wasn’t quite a howl not too far from where they were.

The group including the twins made their way to the other teen and were floored when they found yet another body and apparently it was someone that Boyd knew if the way he was being grabbed by Scott and Isaac were anything to go by.

“Boyd,” He said trying to get the beta’s attention on him. “Boyd!” He snapped until the other teen’s eyes shifted back. “I need to know where he falls in the ritual, is he the third?” Stiles asked in a rough voice, not even caring what the twins over heard at that point.

“Warrior.” It was all the other teen got out before Stiles’ mind was racing. He was the first ‘warrior’ then that meant that one of the ‘virgins’ was still out there and hadn’t been found yet and that meant that things were worse than they thought. It was all Stiles could think about even as his dad showed up and started asking them all questions.

Once they had been released Stiles headed back towards the school with Isaac, Boyd and Scott and that was when he saw it. Derek and Ms Blake were standing near her car talking and as if she sensed them coming, Stiles would have sworn that she looked right at him and smirked before laughing at something Derek said and touching his shoulder, like she had a right! Like he was hers… he couldn’t watch this… he couldn’t breathe… all he remembered before he blacked out was the sound of screaming and the loud sound of something breaking.

\-------------------

When he came to a few minutes later he was a little surprised to be in an empty classroom with Isaac, Boyd and Erica holding the door shut while Scott, Allison, and Lydia sat next to him.

“What the hell?” Stiles muttered out while attempting to sit up.

“Derek’s been trying to bust in since we got you in here, I didn’t know if you wanted to see him so I just...” Scott waved a hand at the other three betas and shrugged a bit and Stiles couldn’t help but hug his friend.

“YOU THREE MOVE!” was roared out from the other side of the door.

“You hurt Stiles!” Isaac yelled at the same time Erica had yelled. “You hurt my Batman!” And surprisingly Boyd just growled.

Stiles couldn’t help but feel a surge of thanks towards the other teens before he turned his attention back to Scott and the girls, Derek could just keep waiting after that little performance in the parking lot.

“What the hell happened, I mean I remember someone screaming but that’s about it,” he said waving a hand at the nervous look that Scott gave him.

“Dude that screaming came from you!” His friend finally said. “You got this really pained look and then the next thing we knew you were grabbing your head and screaming louder than anything I’d ever heard!” Scott said his eyes going wide as he spoke.

“Allison and I heard it too; it sounded almost like a roar,” Lydia added while patting his hand gently.

“And then I passed out?” He asked honestly hoping that was the end of it, but the looks everyone was giving told him to keep dreaming.

“I think you might have also blown all the windows out of Ms Blake’s car,” Scott said with a snicker which caused Stiles to groan before glancing over to the classroom window and realising that there was no longer glass there either. “Okay and maybe some of the classroom windows as well,” he added with a shrug. It was then that Stiles heard the growling coming from a different direction and paled.

“Guys I think your daddy just realised there’s another way into the room, so you all may want to, oh I don’t know… run!” He said waving his hands in warning. The group had just made it out the door when a wolfed out Derek jumped in through the busted window before he was up in Stiles’ space again.

“Derek I’m sorry, I don’t know…”

“Shut up Stiles,” it was all Derek growled out before he started to check him from head to toe. Stiles was confused as all hell about the sudden attention but he couldn’t deny anymore that it made him feel awesome. “Are you all right?” The man asked seeming to finally get himself under control again as he shifted back.

“Do you seriously think they would keep me away from you if I wasn’t?” He asked with a serious yet annoyed face.

“Then why would…” Derek looked honestly puzzled and if he weren’t so annoyed Stiles might actually find the expression cute.

“Obviously because I didn’t want to see you dumbass,” he said with a roll of his eyes as he continued on ignoring the growling from Derek. “I tried staying away from everyone but seriously, Isaac’s puppy eyes, lethal fucking weapon right there.”

“I don’t know what you want Stiles,” Derek said suddenly sounding tired and Stiles couldn’t help but look at him in shock.

“For fuck’s sake Derek I wanted you!” He yelled, “But you’re with Ms Blake, so for the sake of my sanity I tried to stay away and then here you are hanging out with her at the school and I’m done Derek, I’m just so fucking beyond done! So how about you let me know what the fuck _you_ want when you figure it out.” He said with a sigh before turning and walking out of the room.

\-------------------

The next morning school had been cancelled, so Stiles found himself in the loft sprawled on the couch with Lydia and Peter, something no one even thought would happen but apparently it was fine as long as he was there, the three of them comparing notes on trances, ritual murders, and Alpha packs, and none of them realising how close they were all sitting until they felt eyes on them.

Looking up slowly they all saw Derek looking at them with a curious and confused expression before his phone buzzed in his pocket, no doubt Ms Blake yet again, why was it when they needed him she was always pulling him away and he was always so willing to go? Didn’t he want to stay with the pack? Didn’t he want to help? These and thousands of other questions like them were all spinning through Stiles mind as he watched Derek fish out his phone before tapping out a reply and turning his attention back to them. Annoyance, fury, and what he could only describe as pure rage rolled through Stiles though instead of yelling or rambling or anything that was usually expected of him he suddenly flashed Derek a smile that looked far too sharp for someone with blunt human teeth.

“Why don’t you run along and play house Derek, wouldn’t want to keep her waiting now would you?” He hissed out from between his teeth. Derek suddenly found himself wolfed out and growling at the teen, which only made Stiles’ smirk look more dangerous, almost like a wolf getting ready to strike, but then as if to prove the teen’s point his phone buzzed again, so with a snarl he quickly turned and left the loft.

“Want to explain what the hell just happened?” Lydia asked. “Not that I don’t enjoy seeing Derek getting put in his place from time to time, but…” She trailed off waiting for an answer.

“I will not be toyed with; I told him I’m done with this shit,” Stiles snapped out, with what sounded like a hint of growl in his voice and Peter would swear for a moment it had looked like the teen’s eyes had a reddish tint to them. Instead of responding to the statement Stiles had made, even though he approved, Peter explained more about the mark and everything Stiles hadn’t had a chance to fill her in on yet completely, and Stiles even allowed them to lift the back of his shirt so she could see it for herself finally. Stiles finally spoke again but it was in a voice that was much smaller than they were used to from him. “What’s happening to me?” he whispered out.

It took Peter explaining about how the mark would heighten Stiles’ emotions, even those he didn’t want to deal with, and a few well-placed insulting compliments from Lydia to help Stiles get his head back in the game. The three of them narrowed down their list of things that could cause the type of trances that Peter was certain he’d seen Derek in and the three finally went their separate ways with Stiles planning on taking the list to Deaton as soon as possible.

The day after brought Stiles being thankful his dad was already at work as he screamed for two hours while a frantic and whimpering Isaac held him down to keep him from hurting himself, as he drew away as much as he could of the pain. When the pain finally stopped Isaac gently placed his head on Stiles’ chest and listened to his steady heartbeat for a quiet moment.

“The pain from that thing is getting worse isn’t it?” Isaac whimpered out.

“Yeah, don’t know why though Peter said he didn’t remember Michael having any pain with his,” Stiles huffed out as Isaac finally helped him sit up. The other teen knew they should be getting ready for school but he couldn’t stand seeing Stiles like this.

“I’m taking you to Deaton,” he finally said with as fierce a look as he could muster, which really just reminded Stiles of a puppy trying to be intimidating but it was almost like he could sense the worry in the other and merely nodded his head before getting dressed as quickly as he could.

The ride to the vet’s office was quiet but Stiles kept catching Isaac staring at him before he couldn’t help but shake his head.

“Dude I’m alright now seriously, it’s only when I first wake up in the morning,” he said as he finally parked the Jeep and took note of the empty parking lot. “Why do I get the feeling that he’s expecting us?” He mumbled out as they climbed out and headed in.

Sure enough Deaton was standing inside holding the gate open for the two of them with his ever calm look plastered on his face. He said nothing until he’d led them back to the exam room.

As much as the guy annoyed him, Stiles could see where the guy was coming from with wanting to stay out of things as much as possible, over time though he’d started to work with Derek more and more, especially when Erica and Boyd had been missing, and things finally came to a head when Peter had let it slip that Deaton had once been the emissary for the Hale pack. It didn’t take long for Derek to offer the man the role once more which he surprisingly took on condition that it was temporary at least until Derek found another.

“To what do I owe to pleasure gentlemen?” The vet finally asked. Isaac merely shifted from foot to foot while giving Stiles a pleading look.

“Two things, one I have a list to go over with you and two I need you to look at this for me,” he said waiting for the man to nod before he finally shed his usual layers so he could show Deaton his back.

“Your mark?” The man said his tone a mixture of curiosity and amusement, which caused Isaac to growl a little.

“It’s hurting him!” The wolf snapped out suddenly which caused a full look of surprise to cross Deaton’s face and that alone kind of made the pain worth it a little.

“That is very unusual,” he said with a frown forming on his face as he looked over the slowly forming mark. “How long has this been going on?” He asked.

“Little while, sometimes it just tingles you know like it’s reminding me it’s there, and other times it burns like someone’s holding a damn blowtorch to it, usually only happens after I fight with Derek,” Stiles said with a sigh.

“Something is slowing its progress; it would have looked just like a tattoo at this point otherwise,” Deaton explained. “Most likely something is wrong within the pack,” he added, for once being a bit more helpful with the information, Stiles suspected because whatever was going on it was causing unnatural pain and was probably getting the vet’s druid panties in a bunch.

“That’s what the list is about,” Stiles said finally slipping his shirts back on before pulling out list that he had put together with Peter and Lydia. Deaton quietly accepted the list before skimming over everything the three of them had pieced together leaving Stiles to sit there and wait while Isaac fussed over him making him laugh a bit until the man finally turned back to them with a frown firmly on his face. “You know what we’re dealing with don’t you?” Stiles asked simply and Deaton could only nod his head with a sigh.

“With the murders moving on to the next phase now, the trances Derek’s been dealing with, I think it’s safe to suspect a magic user not all that unlike myself. You’re looking for something called a Darach. A dark Druid if you will someone who once followed our teachings but has twisted them for their own purposes,” Stiles sighed in relief at finally knowing what they were after at least.

“It won’t be easy Stiles, they can look like anyone,” Deaton warned as Stiles and Isaac left before starting their mass flurry of text messages to let everyone know what was going on.

\-------------------

The next few days brought some pretty strange events starting with an impromptu meeting with the twins from the Alpha pack.

Stiles had just finished discussing things with the pack over lunch and was headed towards the library for his free period hoping to get in a little more research when one of the twins caught his eye and nodded towards the empty stairwell. Despite what Derek thought it wasn’t that he didn’t have any sense of self preservation, it was more like he had a gut feeling that they twins weren’t there to hurt him, so he followed them and once the door was closed behind him he merely levelled them with a stare, that no one else would have recognized on his face.

“Alpha Hale,” They said to him which made him freak out in the deepest portions of his mind, though he managed to keep a straight face, the pack was depending on him.

“Alphas Carver,” he said simply in response. “You’ve requested this meeting,” he added simply showing his position in the interaction. If the two Alphas were surprised by the fact that a human knew the proper customs, they didn’t say.

“Permission to dispense formalities?” Ethan asked which actually got a small smirk from Stiles before he nodded. “We wanted to apologise for the other day,” he added.

“Which one the one where you attacked me at home where my dad could have been, who knows nothing about this by the way, or the one that you tried to bait my pup into a fight at school?” Stiles snapped at the two of them and was a little surprised to see them back away a bit.

“Both,” Aiden grumbled out. Stiles got the feeling that he really was sorry for the exchanges but that if it weren’t for Ethan they wouldn’t be there.

“Yeah not really getting that whole apology vibe from you so how about you tell me what the hell that little exchange was between the two of you yesterday, something about dear ol’ Deucalion not telling you I was Derek’s mate?” He prompted which caused them both to look at him in surprise.

“You shouldn’t have been able to hear that!” Aiden said quickly.

“Deucalion is trying to recruit Derek to the pack; he seems to think that having a Hale alpha will make it better or something,” Ethan said with a shake of his head.

“Because he can do a full shift,” Stiles said not even bothering to phrase it like a question, there really wasn’t a point and Ethan and Aiden merely nodded at him. He wasn’t an idiot, he’d asked Deaton about it again and apparently the last person to be able to do it really had been Talia Hale, and it was a mark of incredible power.

“He didn’t say he had a mate though, that you guys were a fully established pack,” Ethan added.

“That changes things how exactly?” Stiles asked with a raised brow.

“We know you guys work with the Argents, I don’t think there’s a pack who hasn’t heard about that, and we’ve got codes just like hunters do and you don’t mess with an established pack,” Ethan said with a shrug of his shoulders. “Wolves taken from packs like that are harder to control and most of the time they don’t survive it,” He added.

“And now there is the Darach too,” Aiden said which caused Stiles to turn his attention to him.

“So you guys know about that? We were beginning to wonder if it had anything to do with you because shit didn’t start getting bad until you guys turned up,” He said, his eyes narrowing a bit when he noticed the look that passed between the two of them.

“If Duke thinks so he’s not saying but Kali, the woman with us, said she thinks it might, apparently killing your whole pack tends to be frowned upon,” Aiden snorted out.

“Especially if you don’t kill everyone,” Stiles said suddenly getting a pretty good look at the bigger picture. “If the two of you are ever hoping to have a permanent place anywhere I would think long and hard about whose side I was on,” He said before turning and leaving the two standing there surprised.

“Stiles!” Ethan yelled before he reached the door causing him to turn back and look at him. “Ennis didn’t survive the fight between himself and Derek and no matter what happens Kali is out for blood,” He said and Stiles nodded at this realising the risk the twins were taking by talking to him now.

“I’ll be sure to pass on your warning to my mate,” He said with a nod, the meaning not lost on the twins. He was more or less offering them a safe haven and the fact that he was doing so without consulting Derek spoke volumes of the power that he held in the pack even if Stiles wasn’t quite aware of it himself.

Of course he was cornered after school by the pack, Scott, Allison, and Lydia. He explained the exchange that had happened, not at all surprised to find out that Scott and Lydia had been keeping Allison in the loop about everything. She might be a hunter and therefore never fully accepted into the pack, but Stiles really wished that weren’t the case. Despite their ups and downs and the round of crazy that she had gone through Allison had more than proved herself to Stiles, it was just a matter of getting Derek to see that and to realise that since she’d come back Allison really only had the best of intentions when it came to the pack.

“Wait they called you Alpha Hale?” Allison asked with a raised brow. So apparently Scott hadn’t been telling her everything.

“When dealing with mates you call the younger by the title and last name of the older,” Scott piped up and a knowing look crossed Allison’s face as she gave Stiles a soft look that clearly said she’d put it together, and the gentle squeeze she gave his arm told him that she was happy for him even if she didn’t say it out loud.

He finished filling them all in on the rest of the conversation and as they finished he was surprised that it was Allison that spoke up again.

“Scott, maybe it would be better if you joined the pack,” She said softly and Scott gave her look that spoke of complete confusion and Stiles wasn’t going to lie he was right there with Scott, the statement made no sense, at least not from her.

“Your dad will hate me even more!” Scott exclaimed and Stiles’ heart went out to his best friend it really did but this really wasn’t the time for that.

“I know Scott but we both know he’ll never really be happy about us no matter what and I’d rather you safe from the other pack,” she said giving him a soft look that spoke of both love and sadness. There was something else going on in her mind that much Stiles was sure of but he wasn’t about to say anything for a change, he merely gave her a look that said he was there if she needed to talk.

\-------------------

Stiles telling Ms Blake off in class the next day had been a surprise for everyone, including himself! Class had started out normally enough but then she started going on about all different types of connections and how it can be hard for people to know when to let go, most of her comments seeming to be directed right at Stiles who was biting on his thumb hard enough to make it bleed in his attempt to keep quiet and it worked too, at least until she directly asked him for his opinion on the matter.

“Personally I think it’s all about knowing who you should and shouldn’t mess with and that if one is going to mess around with people they shouldn’t than they should at least make sure that no one else involved can call them on their bullshit,” he snapped before meeting her gaze and openly glaring at her just as the bell rung and people started to run out of the room.

“Something else you wanted to say Stiles?” She asked with an innocent and curious expression that Stiles wasn’t buying for a moment.

“I don’t know who the hell you think you are lady but if you have any sort of sense of self-preservation you’ll stay the hell away from my fucking mate!” He growled, his eyes darkening as he spoke.

He wanted to say more, maybe even claw her eyes out, but he was quickly pulled from the room by a worried looking Scott who then informed him that the second body for the latest group had been found, as well as the very first, which according to the police was weeks older than the one they had actually thought was first.

This lead to a very confused Sheriff sitting in his living room with Stiles and Derek while the two explained everything that had been going on since Stiles life became one giant nightmare. Originally Stiles hadn’t planned on telling the man everything, just the highlights about werewolves and hunters, but as Derek started explaining about his family Stiles realised it wouldn’t be fair.

“Werewolves? This better not be a joke son, I mean I can only take…” He just about jumped out of his seat when Derek shifted right in front of him. He quieted down after that and let the two continue to fill him him.

To say that the Sheriff was unhappy would have been an understatement and to find out that Stiles had willingly become part of the pack and that there was no ‘undoing’ that seemed to piss him off even more, but when he saw the way that Derek seemed to be keeping Stiles calm and focused through the whole explanation, it seemed to help him take it all a little easier and left Stiles in no hurry to inform him that things were actually pretty strained between the two of them. When Derek finally left after assuring John that he would do everything in his power to protect Stiles the teen had never been surer about his decision to not tell his dad about him planning to become a wolf.

“Werewolves Stiles?! Jesus kid, are you trying to get yourself killed?” His dad finally yelled once Derek was long gone, or at least he thought he was, Stiles was more than certain that Derek was still hovering around outside near the house.

“Quite the opposite actually, I’m trying to keep everyone alive! And doing a damn good job of it too!” He yelled back already feeling himself getting frustrated and the more time he and Derek were apart the harder it was becoming to keep himself under control and that scared him because the last thing he wanted to do was end up accidently hurting his dad. He knew he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he did.

“If I honestly thought you’d listen to me I’d demand that you keep yourself out of it, you’re just a kid Stiles it’s not up to you to save everyone.” John snapped out and at that Stiles saw red.

“Do you honestly think I wanted to tell you about any of this? I realised that you were going to be in danger whether you knew it or not and I thought at least this way you have a better chance of coming home!” He yelled before turned away from his dad, feeling the anger vibrate through him.

“Jesus kid is this because of Hale? Because of whatever you think you feel for him? You’re seventeen Stiles!” He dad finally asked and Stiles could barely stop himself from releasing the anger he felt building up.

“Don’t you dare make this about Derek! Weren’t you listening to anything we said? He’s tried to keep me out of this and I always end up getting pulled back in or dive back in on my own!” He yelled out. “And trying to make this about age is really awesome coming from you because I know for a fact that you and mom started dating when she was sixteen!” He added.

“That was different she was human!” The man said and that got Stiles attention very quickly, so much for keeping at least a little of the information to himself.

“No dad she wasn’t,” he said, his voice sounding a bit strained. “She was a fucking Druid, a magic user just like Doctor Deaton and she passed it on to me whether she knew it or not,” he growled out. “And don’t stand there and try to make it sound like werewolves aren’t every bit as human as we are or you’re no better than Gerard Argent!” He hissed out going for a low blow because he could feel his control slipping faster and faster before running up to his room and slamming his door shut and locking it leaving behind a stunned and guilt ridden Sheriff.

As soon as the door shut Stiles was sliding down with his back against it as silent cries wracked his body. It wasn’t long before a pair of strong arms were pulling him against a familiar chest.

“This was exactly why I didn’t want him to find out,” he sobbed out feeling like an idiot for crying in front of the alpha but not really finding a way to make himself stop.

“And at the same time it was exactly why you should have told him from the beginning.” Derek said back while rubbing a hand along Stiles’ back, which not only seemed to be calming him emotionally, it seemed to be easing the ache that was always present in his back now.

“It wasn’t my secret to tell then,” Stiles said in a tiny voice that made Derek pause for a moment before he found himself nuzzling along the pack bite he’d left.

“Thank you,” he said before quieting and merely holding the teen tightly in his arms for the rest of the night.

\-------------------

When Stiles woke the next morning he noticed three things, the first being that his back didn’t hurt for the first time in weeks, the second being that his phone was beeping at him and the third was that he was currently staring at a sleeping Derek Hale… in his bed! His eyes widened for a moment before he quickly remembered what had happened the night before and he finally turned his attention to his phone only to suddenly sit up causing Derek to jerk awake with a small sleepy snarl before he noticed the frantic look on the teen’s face.

“What the hell Stiles?” He asked running a hand over his face, feeling more himself than he had in the past month, aside from being tired.

“The Alpha pack… Isaac said they must have broken into the loft… they left their mark behind…” he said brokenly as he jumped up and started to change his clothes quickly but found himself jerked to a stop when his wrist was suddenly grabbed from behind and he felt a clawed hand running over his back. Shit! How could he have forgotten?

“When were you planning on telling me?” Derek growled out. Stiles hung his head.

“I wasn’t,” he said softly and that caused the angry growl that Stiles was very familiar with.

“You know what this means?” Derek asked his voice barely above a whisper and the sound of it was like a punch in the gut to Stiles.

“Of course I do! If I hadn’t before, the twins addressing me as Alpha Hale would have shed some light on it don’t you think?” He snapped out before he was flipped around and found himself staring into panicked eyes.

“You’ve talked to them? Why didn’t you tell me? They could have killed you, you idiot!” He said giving Stiles an angry look that spoke volumes, rather than scare him, it made him realise just how worried Derek was.

“They were trying to warn us Derek because apparently you having a mate changes things, I didn’t think it was a good idea to inform them that wasn’t entirely the case, so you’ll forgive me for not correcting them I’m sure,” he said waving his hand in annoyance, at least until Derek grabbed hold of it.

“Wasn’t entirely the case? What the hell are you talking about?” Derek yelled and the look of utter confusion on his face caused Stiles to deflate a little.

“We all know you’re seeing Ms Blake! I didn’t want to ruin that for you,” he said and try as he might he couldn’t stop the tears from welling in his eyes. Nor could he stop the shaky sob that escaped from him when Derek wrapped his arms around him once more.

For a few moments Stiles just allowed himself to be held feeling safer and more in control of himself than he had in weeks and he was fully prepared to apologise knowing that there was no way the man wanted to be tied to him in such a way, but as he opened his mouth to say just that Derek growled again but it sounded pleased.

“Mine,” he said simply before pulling the shocked teen tighter against him and claiming his mouth roughly, the kiss was hot, wet, full of power and was everything he thought kissing Derek would be, which sent a thrill straight to Stiles’ dick, which was very pleased with the way the morning was suddenly going, at least until his brain caught up and remembered the text.

“As much as I'm very interested in what’s about to happen Sourwolf we need to get to the loft, the pups are freaking out!” He said quickly trying to get a handle on himself. Derek growled again but this time it was one that Stiles easily recognised again, anger.

“This isn’t over,” the alpha huffed before pulling Stiles in for another mind blowing kiss and then finally letting him finish getting dressed before the two headed quickly for the loft.

When the two of them arrived, if anyone was surprised to see Derek holding his hand, no one said anything. They informed Derek that the group had been over at Scott’s and had returned home to find the large mark painted on the window and the group spent the rest of the afternoon discussing everything that they knew and once everyone was calmed back down everyone stared in shock as Scott walked over to Derek and silently bared his throat. Instead of arguing like Stiles expected, the man merely scented Scott before giving him the pack bite and it was then that Stiles realised that Derek bit Scott in the side, like all the other betas and that left him with more questions.

After a few exchanged looks with everyone once again the rest of the group headed out and leaving Stiles alone with Derek once again and he was determined to get everything out in the open.

“Why didn’t you bite me in the side?” He asked, not even surprised when Derek jumped up and started to pace.

“My wolf recognised your potential as a mate,” he finally said after a quiet few moments before stopped with his back to Stiles.

At his words Stiles could feel his heart sink into his stomach. So Derek’s wolf wanted him but Derek didn’t? Is that what he was saying? Is that why he kept going back to Ms Blake when Stiles was more than obviously willing for whatever Derek wanted to give him. Sure he could understand it from Derek’s point of view, he was just a lanky seventeen year old with not a whole lot of offer other than his own emotional baggage and insecurity. He didn’t realise that the deeper he fell into his thoughts, the more the glass in the window panes creaked and cracked, nor could he heard the little part of his mind screaming at him about what Scott had said about their wolf side and human side usually wanting the same thing.

_______________ 

Derek spun around to see Stiles slowly starting to curl in on himself and he didn’t need his sensitive hearing to know what the teen was whispering to himself.

“He doesn’t want me,” he whispered it over and over again and not for the first time in his life did Derek wish he had Stiles’ way with words. Clearly Stiles thought that Derek was rejecting him but it couldn’t have been further from the truth and didn’t make sense since Stiles had clearly been rejecting him, or at least he had thought he had.

“Stiles!” He said, alarm clear in his voice when he reached for the teen but was unable to actually touch him. As soon as the panicked name left his mouth Stiles eyes seems to clear and little and he looked at Derek in surprise, whatever barrier between them broken. “I didn’t say I didn’t recognise it too,” he said reaching out and cupping Stiles’ face in his hands. “This is forever Stiles and…” he trailed off when what couldn’t be called anything else other than a growl erupted from the teen.

“I swear to everything that’s holy Derek Hale if you say I’m too young I will hurt you, don’t ask me how, but I will figure something out!” He snapped out and when Derek saw the hint of red in Stiles’ eyes he finally realised what Peter had been talking about. He didn’t know what he was doing and Stiles was paying the price for it.

“I wasn’t going to say that, so don’t put words in my mouth,” He growled back. “I was going to say I wanted you to be sure,” he said, his own voice sounding rough in his ears.

A hundred different expressions passed over Stiles’ face at his words before something like pleased finally settled there and softened his features again, making him look like teen he’d grown to care for, no that was wrong, the young man he’d grown to love, and less like an animal that was being backed into a corner. Stiles was clearly about to say something else when Derek’s phone suddenly buzzed in his pocket. Worried it was the pack again he pulled it out to see it was Jennifer and rolled his eyes silently cursing Peter and his damn name changing.

  **Evil Bitch:** _Need to see you._

Was all it said and he turned surprised eyes to Stiles when he was suddenly flung across the room and away from the teen.

“You heard her Derek, she _needs_ you!” He hissed out, the cracks in the window glass getting larger and larger by the minute and a strange pressure suddenly pressing down on Derek’s chest.

Derek was shifted into his beta form and snarling faster than he ever had before, fighting against the pressure keeping him from his mate. The angry look on the teen’s face looked foreign and out of place and the thought that he’d put it there almost made him want to accept whatever the hell Stiles dished out, but he could also see a hit of panic in the teen’s eyes and he knew he wasn’t entirely in control, part of Derek was causing this just as much as Stiles was.

“Damn it Stiles stop!” He howled out. “I’m not going anywhere,” he snarled.

“Maybe you should, you have every other time!” Stiles yelled back and something in Derek broke at that.

“I only went because you told me to me go!” He said, his voice sounding less like a growl and bordering on a whine.

“Then fucking GO!” Stiles screamed, his voice sounding slightly hysterical. And as he screamed three things happened, the barrier keeping the two of them apart dropped, the window shattered and Derek just barely managed to tackle Stiles to the ground and protect him from the falling glass.

“I’m not going anywhere.” It was the last thing he managed to say before Stiles passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also if I do turn this into a series I'm going to let you know that there would be two different version of one of the parts because I'd love to add some pups to this but I know that Mpreg isn't for everyone so that part would have two version one would the the mpreg version and one of be a version with them coming by the pups some other way, just an fyi. ^.^
> 
> P.S. Did I mention there will be smut in the next chapter?


	6. Loving you with my whole heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek and Stiles finally get their act together but a surprise visit from Jennifer may have set things in motion that even they aren't quite aware of yet...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delay! I wanted to get this chapter up last weekend but class projects needed to be worked on. Anyway, thanks to everyone who is enjoying this so far and as promised I bring you smut! As always blame Mumford & Sons for this XD Title is from: "White Blank Page".
> 
> Also if anyone knows someone willing or is interested in being a beta for this please let me know! Otherwise any spelling and grammar issues will continue, I may be a Communications major but I'm not perfect. *shrugs*

_He was in the loft, Stiles knew that much at least, he could hear one of the girls screaming and some sort of pained noise coming from Derek as he ran into the room. There he saw Deucalion and who he could only assume was Kali talking to Derek who was impaled on some sort of steel pole. God he felt sick! Cora was being held back by Ennis but that couldn’t have been right, the twins had said he died!_

_"It’s a simple matter really, you’ll either kill your pack and join me or I’ll let Kali here kill them all one by one,” Deucalion said with a smirk._

_“I’ll never join you,” Derek gasped out._

_“Such a shame,” Deucalion responded with a click of his tongue before raising a clawed hand high in the air._

“NO!” Stiles screamed as he sat straight up in the bed, a shaky sob escaping him as he was quickly wrapped in strong arms. It didn’t take him long to realise it was Derek holding him and he tried for a minute to pull away.

“Stiles would you stop, please,” Derek said softly.

“Why are you here? I told you to go,” he muttered out finally just allowing himself to slump into the hold when it became obvious that the other man wasn’t planning on letting him go anytime soon.

“And I told you I wasn’t going anywhere. Stiles I don’t know what the hell you think is going on between Jennifer and I,” Stiles started to struggle at this not really wanting to hear it, in fact wanting to hear anything but that, but Derek’s grip on him just tightened. “Stiles! I don’t know what you think is going on but I’m not with her!” This froze him to the spot.

“W… what?” He stuttered out not really believing what he was hearing.

“Yeah I slept with her, once! I don’t even know why I did. I went to the school looking for you!” Derek said turning Stiles so that they were face to face finally. “I went looking for _you_.” He said again.

“Then why the hell would you…” He trailed off not even being able to force himself to say it and it had nothing to do with being a virgin himself and everything to do with the rage and nausea the thought provoked.

“I told you I don’t know. She was there and she got me to safety and she smelled so much like you. I didn’t realise what we did until I woke up the next morning,” he said with a sigh and shake of his head.

“Then why did you keep going back to her?” Stiles finally asked, pieces of the puzzle slowly starting to fit together in his mind.

“I told you before, you told me too! I thought you were rejecting me so…” He said with a small shrug of his shoulders and suddenly Stiles felt like the biggest idiot on the face of the planet finally realising why Derek seemed so angry with him whenever he would tell him to go to Ms Blake.

“God this is so fucked up,” he said with a shaky sigh, and he would never admit to jumping into Derek’s arms when Deaton suddenly spoke up from the other side of the room.

“Perhaps I can shed some like on a few things for you both,” He said with his usual clam expression. “My apologies Stiles, Derek called me after you collapsed, again from what I’m told,” he said fixing him with a look that said he clearly didn’t approve of not being told that he’d passed out before.

“Every little bit of information helps,” he said with small but sheepish shrug at the look that clearly said ‘Eh, well you know now’.

“When Derek told me what had happened I did a little bit of digging through some of Talia’s journals that survived the fire and I believe I know what’s been happening,” the man said with a sigh and shake of his head.

“You mean aside from the whole being unclaimed and my spark changing?” Stiles asked. He knew Derek was probably making a face that was both equal parts anger and man-pain as he said it but he wasn’t about to have that particular argument right then… or ever if he could avoid it and avoiding it was sounding pretty awesome right about then.

“Exactly, when Derek bit you, his wolf was making its intentions known by marking you as well the moment you agreed to the bite; your spark isn’t changing because you’re unclaimed though, not like we thought. It’s changing because it’s preparing for you to take the bite. It’s preparing for you to be turned and normally this wouldn’t be a problem but you’re losing control of it because Derek’s wolf is sharing its power with you freely.” He said shooting a look to Derek and Stiles imagined that his face had a look of surprise that matched the older man’s right then.

“He’s sharing my Alpha spark?” Derek whispered out and Deaton merely nodded.

“Just as you’ve been sharing his spark, just because your emotions are a jumble doesn’t mean that your wolf’s are. It doesn’t understand what’s keeping you from your mate and its most likely been trying to comfort both you and Stiles by sharing its power with him when it thought he needed it, to help strengthen your connection,” Deaton explained. “I’m sure you’ve noticed it too Derek, times when Stiles didn’t quite seem just human anymore?” He asked and Derek nodded which surprised Stiles and he narrowed his eyes at the both of them. “You two obviously have things you need to talk about but first I want to know what you saw Stiles,” Deaton said and Stiles sighed, while mentally congratulating the vet on keeping himself out of the crossfire between the two of them, before telling the two of them about the nightmare he’d had.

“Stiles I’m beginning to think you’re seeing things that not only have happened here, like the dream you told me about with Derek’s fall, but things that are happening in other timelines as well, either why I think it’s safe to assume that Deucalion’s endgame is still the same,” He said with a serious expression which made Stiles want to cry again.

“Great just great!” He muttered. “Anything else I should worry about or should I just go stick my head in an oven now?” He said with a sigh, which earned a growl from Derek. “Relax Sourwolf, I wasn’t really going to,” he huffed out. Deaton merely smirked slightly at the exchange.

“Regardless of if this is just a temporary power or permanent, I feel it is my duty to inform you both that your best chance at surviving all of this is to finish the bond,” he said, the smirk gone from his face as he spoke. “It will be safer for everyone.” He added before turning and heading towards the door. “I’ll see myself out,” he said simply before shutting the bedroom door behind himself.

Once the vet was gone Stiles sighed and ran a shaky hand through his hair. He couldn’t hear the growl that was coming from Derek but he could feel the man practically vibrating behind him.

“Peter said I didn’t know what I was doing and he was right. I didn’t realise how much danger I was putting you in,” Derek finally said his voice low and Stiles could hear the guilt train a-coming.

“Oh knock it off!” Stiles said reaching out and giving Derek a firm smack on the back of his head which caused him to look up in shock. “Deaton didn’t have to spell it out for me to realise that none of this would have happened if I hadn’t wanted it too. This shit works both ways Derek so don’t go pulling that whole guilt trip, ‘everything is my fault’ bullshit with me,” he snapped out. “The only thing that has been your fault in this whole mess is banging my creepy ass English teacher. Knowing what we know now though I will take some of the blame for this dragging on like it did,” he added crossing his arms over his chest.

“I wasn’t lying, it was just the once, things got strange after that, it’s like she’s trying really hard to remind me of you but not all at the same time,” Derek growled out with a shake of his head as if he were trying to clear something.

“Oh we’ll talk about this loads and you’re going to tell me what the hell Deaton meant when he said about me not seeming quite human anymore, but right now I think we’ve talked enough,” Stiles suddenly growled out before in the blink of an eye he tackled Derek down onto the bed, burying his face in the older man’s chest.

He stayed there for a moment before Derek pulled back and claimed his mouth in a bruising kiss. This blew the kiss from that morning out of the water! It was all heat, tongues, teeth, hot breath and tiny growls that left Stiles’ head spinning before he pulled back, nipping along Derek’s jawline.

“Mine, my mate, no one will take you from me,” Stiles whined out surprised at the possessiveness of the words that escaped from him.

He didn’t have time to dwell on it for long through when he was quickly flipped onto his back and he felt the warm wet heat of Derek’s tongue on his neck. With a faint moan he tilted his head back to give the man better access as well as showing his submission to his mate causing a growl of approval to erupt from the alpha and Stiles could feel just the barest hint of teeth against his throat.

“You need to tell me now if you don’t want this,” Derek growled out against his neck which sent a pleasant shudder through Stiles. God they had both been idiots and Stiles wasn’t about to let that happen again, he wanted everything with Derek and he would be damned if he was going to leave any room for something to come between them again.

“Please…” He panted out. “Do it Derek… God!” Another approving growl was the only warning that Stiles got before Derek sank his teeth into him again in that oh so lovely spot between neck and shoulder.

When Derek moved away again he pulled Stiles to him for another kiss and the teen moaned at the taste of his own blood in Derek’s mouth, not something that he ever thought would be a turn on but quickly found that it was. He whined into the kiss as he tugged uselessly at the shirt that Derek was wearing causing the older man to chuckle as the kiss broke and he pulled back to remove the offending item, taking another moment to remove Stiles’ as well. Stiles moaned again as Derek pressed against him once more before launching an all-out assault against his neck with lips, tongue and teeth, Stiles’ hips jerking up causing the both of them to rut against each other as needy desperate noises escaped them.

Stiles didn’t have the chance to whine again though when his jeans and boxers were suddenly ripped from him before he was moaning at the feeling of Derek’s, also suddenly, very naked cock grinding against his own, and while it was nothing short of amazing he needed more, it just wasn’t enough. He still felt an empty ache inside of him that he couldn’t place or even attempt to put a name to.

“Please… need you…” he panted out against Derek’s lips, staring into those wonderful hazel eyes as they slowly started to turn red with the excitement that Derek was clearly feeling. He knew this was going fast and if Stiles were fully aware of himself he might have found himself wondering if the bond was driving them faster and hell he would probably be asking question after question about it too but he was too far gone to care right then and even before they had started he couldn’t think of anything he wanted more then to end up where they were in that moment.

Apparently that was all the go ahead that Derek needed before he was sliding down Stiles’ body, leaving a teasing trail with his tongue, pausing at each nipple to lap at them for a moment, teasing the buds to hardness. The feelings sent more shockwaves of arousal through the teen and he’d not doubt that if he died after this he’d die happy. A pleased rumble was steadily coming from Derek as he continued his torturous trail down over Stiles’ stomach, nipping at his hips for a moment before he bypassed the teen’s aching erection, that was clearly demanding his attention, going lower to nibble at his thighs.

“Derek…” Stiles whined out while thrusting his hips up in a silent plea. Derek merely gave a deep chuckle.

“Such a demanding mate,” Derek said, clicking his tongue at Stiles as though disappointed, but the teasing was clear in his tone before he took the teen into his mouth and swallowed him whole once again.

The move caused Stiles to arch up off the bed as a needy moan escaped him before he heard the sound of a cap opening and a slick finger was circling around his hole before slowly pressing into him as Derek’s tongue swirled around the head of his dick.

He had no idea where the hell the lube came from but he thanked his lucky stars as a desperate keening noise escaped him when a second finger joined the first, the slight burn of the stretch a welcome feeling as Derek suddenly angled his fingers, nailing Stiles’ prostate dead on.

The feeling was intense and more than Stiles ever thought he would have again from Derek as he reached down and tangled his fingers in Derek’s hair in an attempt to warn him of his oncoming orgasm. The alpha would not be moved though and picked up his pace, adding yet a third finger just as Stiles tipped over the edge and Derek swallowed everything he had.

“Want you in me now!” Stiles panted out when he came back to himself and for once Derek wasted no time in following the command, panting out as he pulled the teen’s hips up and slowly slid in inch by inch before bottoming out. The groan that escaped from Stiles was a mixture of pleasure and pain. Derek had done a good deal of prep but there was no avoiding the spikes of pain that Stiles would feel and the teen knew that, but it didn’t last long as Derek quickly changed angles going for his prostate again.

Stiles’ head thrashed back and forth for a long moment at the feeling as needy moans spilled from his lips. He never imagined he could feel so full and it seemed that it was exactly what he had needed because the franticness of their coupling finally started to subside and as it did Derek’s wild thrusting slowly became an easy roll of his hips, each one sending sparks through Stiles and he finally looked to Derek and his breath caught in his throat.

The moonlight made it easy for Stiles to get a look at his sweat covered mate and it was a glorious sight to behold. Derek was shifted into his beta form, his red eyes locking with Stiles' before he leaned down to capture his lips with his own, seeming to be mindful of his fangs, all the while continuing the slow roll of his hips, as he practically bent Stiles in half. Derek didn't even care that his claws were digging into the mattress where he had them braced on either side of Stiles' head.

“Mine… my mate, mine to claim… mine to knot…” Derek growled out as his thrusts started to pick up pace again, leaving Stiles ripping at the man’s back with blunt human nails as he practically sobbed out his pleasure at both the sensation as well as the statement.

Stiles wasn’t an idiot, he didn’t go into this situation not knowing anything about werewolf anatomy. He knew for a fact that this was likely to occur, though that had been a very awkward conversation with Deaton. It was a little known fact that only male alpha’s had a knot and they would only knot their mates. The fact that Derek was going to knot him, hell even just the idea of it, left him a mewling puddle of want. Yeah he’d been a little freaked out about the idea at first but then the more he thought about it the more he wanted it to happen.

It took only a few more snaps of his hips before Derek had Stiles coming again and the wolf had never seen a more beautiful sight. Nothing quite compared to seeing Stiles with his head thrown back, panting and moaning out his name before the scent of his release hit Derek again, causing him to give a small but intense snarl as he pulled out and flipped him over. The teen was startled by the sudden move but nothing aside from a loud and long moan escaped him as Derek moved down and started to lap at his mate’s stretched and swollen rim.

Stiles head dropped back at the feeling of Derek’s tongue circling his hole. He knew exactly what rimming was, he’d probably watched enough porn to write a book on it, but the feeling wasn’t anything like he’d imagine and he gasped loudly as Derek’s tongue pushed into him, giving him an entirely different feeling to process. His hips bucked a little when Derek stopped the thrusting motions with his tongue and pulled back to place little nipping bites to each side of Stiles’ ass.

“Derek… please,” he whined out as the man continued to lap at his ass. Gods why didn’t they tell you how amazing that felt in school? Stiles wondered as his back bowed a little when Derek’s tongue was joined by two of his fingers, stretching him once more, but avoiding his prostate by just enough that it was quickly turning him into a whimpering mess.

“Do you have any idea how amazing you smell? How fucking perfect you taste?” Derek growled suddenly as two fingers became three again before he went back to running his tongue around the rim of Stiles’ ass as he started to thrust them in and out causing Stiles to mewl a little as he felt the excess lube running down the insides of his thighs.

“Derek… I want…” He managed to get out before another moan little pleasured pained moan was torn from his throat as Derek’s tongue forced its way in with his fingers for a few more thrusts before Derek pulled back and Stiles looked over his shoulder to see a clear trail of saliva running down the man’s chin, before dripping down onto his chest. That sight alone got another moan from him before he pushed himself back onto the thrusting fingers and his own dick started to ache again, being very interested in another round even if Stiles didn’t know how it could possibly be.

“You want what Stiles?” Derek growled into the teen’s ear pressing himself along Stiles’ back before nipping at his neck as he continued to thrust and twist his fingers in.

“God I want you to knot me! I _need_ you to knot me!” He sobbed out finally.

Another pleased growl was all he got from Derek before the fingers were removed but before he could feel empty he was quickly filled again by Derek’s dick, which already seemed thicker than it had been before, was sliding back in causing Stiles to gasp and moan loudly as Derek sped up his pace.

“My mate,” Derek growled as he thrust hard and fast, no doubt leaving bruises to worry about later.

“Oh fuck yes!” Stiles yelled in agreement, his hips pushing back to meet the punishing pace.

They both knew the knot was making itself known when it started to get harder and harder for Derek to slide into his mate, and he did his best to comfort him when he heard the small whimpers escape from Stiles, placing small kisses and licks to his shoulders and the back of his neck as he continued and his thrusts became shorter. He growled contentedly when the whimpers were replaced by small moans again and he carefully reached a clawed hand around to find Stiles still hard.

It didn’t take long before he had Stiles a sobbing mess once more, the teen’s hips jerking a little as he thrust into his hand as best he could without pulling on the knot and when he finally let go again and his ass tightened around the knot Derek came with a roar that rattled the bedroom windows.

_______________

When he slowly came back to himself Derek shifted them so they were lying down on their sides, knowing it could be as long as half an hour that they would be tied together, though he vaguely recalled that if a mate was human it was usually less, at least that was what he’d read. Derek could feel himself slowly slipping into sleep when Stiles spoke up.

“Derek?” He called in a sleepy voice, and Derek could only muster a grunt in reply. “If you ever go to her again, even if you’re not sleeping with her, I’ll kill you both.” And despite the urge to sleep creeping up on him, Derek couldn’t detect any sort of lie from Stiles, but rather than the thought alarming him or making him want to laugh, he merely rumbled contentedly and placed a gentle kiss to the back of Stiles’ neck before burying his nose there and allowing himself to drift off for a moment.

Derek woke a few minutes later with Stiles still curled back into him and fast asleep. He let a rare smile grace his face before he slid back a little and allowed himself to marvel over the mark that graced his mate’s back. As soon as he’d seen it everything finally made sense and he realised it was what his wolf had been waiting for from the teen, for some sort of confirmation. It had been waiting for Stiles to tell them he was ready. The fact that it had been causing him pain because of the two of them being apart was upsetting to say the least and the thought was enough to have his inner wolf on edge and cursing his own stupidity.

He never expected to have a mate though, he really hadn’t but then here had been this crazy loud teen that just kept turning up and every time he turned around he was surprising Derek in some way. Whether it was the things he did for the pack or even just the way he took care of his dad and Scott when he wasn't being a idiot and even when he was! Any of it, but when he realised what his wolf wanted from the teen and he realised he wanted it too he had been terrified because there were still so many days where the thought of what Kate had done haunted him. Days when the memories were still to near. He knew things were past the point of stopping them though when he’d managed a full shift the day the Alphas had shown up at Stiles’ house.

He’d been arguing with Peter yet again when a panic unlike anything he’d felt before went through him and before he knew it he was shifting and tearing out of the loft with Peter calling after him. He hadn’t realised he’d completely shifted until Peter showed up with pants! And though he wouldn’t admit it out loud he hadn’t realised the attraction went both ways until he’d smelled it on Stiles when he’d joined him in his room that same day. He’d spent so much time trying to convince himself that it was just teenage hormones and remind himself about the age gap, remind himself about Kate, but that first exchange changed everything for him.

He couldn’t help but smirk to himself a little as Stiles curled up into the warm spot he left as he stood up from the bed, heading into the bathroom to get a rag to clean them both up. He took a few minutes to wash himself up before returning and wiping up what he could from his mate. Mate. He didn’t think he would ever get tired of that word. He wasn’t surprised to look up and see Stiles watching him with a sleepy, yet contented expression.

“Don’t think this means I’m done being pissed at you,” he said with a yawn which merely caused Derek to chuckle at him a little.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he shot back before tossing the rag off to the side before pulling the blankets over the both of them and settling back down.

_______________  

When Stiles woke the next morning he couldn’t stop the contented little smile that curled across his face at the dull ache that shot through him. He knew he’d be feeling that for days and honestly he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Stiles, it’s too early to be thinking,” Derek grunted out.

“Oh I don’t think so Sourwolf, I think now is the perfect time,” he said snuggling back up to the other man and giving him a pointed look as Derek cracked an eye open finally and looked at him.

“Can I at least have coffee?” He muttered out.

“I’m feeling merciful right now so yeah,” Stiles said with a sigh before the two of them finally got up out of the bed. He didn’t get far though when he paused at the feeling of Derek suddenly being very close again and he didn’t bother suppressing the little shudder that ran through him when the man touched the mark on his back.

“It’s darker now, more solid,” he rumbled out sounding pleased and Stiles turned to look at him with a raised brow.

“I get the feeling I should be in more pain than I am,” he said but he was more curious than anything else.

“You’re my mate Stiles, even though you’re still human you’ll heal faster, it’s the same reason the marks from the twins healed… and the mark from the time I scratched you,” Derek said his voice getting smaller at the end.

“Oh no, no guilt trips this morning! We’re both at fault for that one, the only thing you should feel guilty about right now is my clothes!” Stiles exclaimed while holding up his shredded pants and boxers.

Derek at least had the decency to look a little sheepish at that before walking over to the dresser and pulling out a pair of sweat pants for Stiles, who then wondered into the bathroom while muttering to himself about having to pull the strings tight extra tight ‘because we all can’t be werewolves with the bodies of Greek gods’. When he came back out he noticed that Derek was absent from the room and headed downstairs after him, pausing to look at the now plastic covered windows.

“Did I really…?” He trailed off motioning in their direction as Derek walked back out carrying two mugs.

“You did,” Derek said simply while holding the other mug out to Stiles. “Before you ask, some of the pack was here very early. I could hear them banging around,” he said with a grimace before his look turned serious. “So were you planning on telling me about all this changing your spark?” He shot before sitting out on the couch.

“I don’t know Derek, were you planning on telling me that you and Ms Crazy-bitch weren’t actually together and that I’m your anchor now?” Stiles fired back with a sigh before flopping down on the couch next to Derek.

“I asked you first,” the older man grunted out and despite being pissed off Stiles couldn’t help but beam at him, already enjoying this relaxed Derek.

“At the time there really wasn’t anything to tell we weren’t sure what was causing it. Like Deaton said last night we thought it was because I was unclaimed and since I was sure you and Ms Blake were going at it like rabbits, I wasn’t going to say anything because as long as I’ve known you now, you’ve never even seemed a fraction as happy as you have lately,” Stiles said as his fingers beat out an erratic tune against the mug in his hands.

“You do know that my mood has had nothing to do with Jennifer right?” Derek asked raising his brows as he took another drink.

“I do now you ass,” Stile said with a roll of his eyes. “You know a lot of this could have been avoided if you would have just used your damn words,” He huffed out.

“I know but you also could have just asked; besides words are your thing,” Derek grumped back and Stiles just stared at him open mouthed for a moment, obviously wanting to argue, but after he open and closed it for a few moments he finally snapped it shut again and sighed.

“Yeah maybe,” He grumbled back. The two settled back into silence and the longer it dragged on the more Stiles thought about what Derek had said about Ms Blake and the more he tried to think about it all the more his head hurt.

“How’d you know you’re my anchor now?” Derek asked when Stiles fell silent again.

“I’m your mate you ass, of course I’m your anchor,” Stiles huffed before shoving at Derek’s shoulder playfully once they’d both set their mugs down.

A mock growl erupted from Derek as he tackled Stiles down onto the couch, the teen laughing the whole time. It was a pleasing sound to the alpha and one that he hadn’t heard much from the teen the past few weeks. With a contented huff the two settled down with Derek laying draped over Stiles and his head resting on the teen’s chest while Stiles ran his fingers up and down Derek’s back and through his hair. As they laid there they filled each other in on everything that had been happening when they weren’t around each other and Derek pulled back a little to raise a brow at Stiles when he told him in detail about the exchange with the twins.

“You do realise that you’ve offered them sanctuary with our pack right?” He asked. Stiles looked surprised for a moment but shrugged.

“I didn’t but I don’t think it’s a bad idea, I mean I don’t get the same vibe from them as I do the others in that pack, and they did apologize for what happened with me. Hell they even apologized for picking a fight with Isaac and…” Derek chuckled a little at this because he could clearly sense a ramble coming on.

“I trust you Stiles,” it was all Derek said which caused Stiles to look both surprised and pleased before they two met for a kiss. True it was a kiss that tasted like coffee and morning breath but there was still an underlying hint of sweetness to it.

_______________  

The two were so quick to get lost in each other that the loft door sliding open caused them both to turn their heads in surprise and Derek to shift into his beta form moving off the couch to stand protectively in front of Stiles. The shock at seeing Ms Blake there must have triggered something in Stiles because a surprised noise escaped her when she looked at him and when Derek looked down at him he saw why. Stiles was currently red eyed and sporting a lovely pair of fangs. It wasn’t a full beta form but it clearly wasn’t human either.

“Stiles, calm down,” Derek said running a clawed hand through the teen’s hair.

“I’m perfectly calm,” Stiles growled, actually _growled_ out.

“Your eyes are red,” Derek whispered to him which caused Stiles to go wide eyed for a moment before he went tearing off to the bathroom.

Once the Stiles was out of sight the woman looked at him with surprise and something that looked like anger in her eyes.

“This is why you kept pulling away from me?” She snapped out. “You’re sleeping with your pack?” At this Derek let out a snarl and had Jennifer pinned to the wall faster than she could blink.

“He is my mate! You don’t know anything!” He growled feeling more and more like he wanted to rip her throat out than anything else. Why had he ever tolerated being around her?

“Derek,” at the sound of Stiles’ voice, he glanced over his shoulder to see him standing there looking endeared by the sight and annoyed at the same time. Derek also noticed that Stiles was at least no longer sporting fangs but his eyes were still just as red. “Let her go. If she gets hurt the only ones Argent is going to blame is us,” Stiles said with a sigh, which loudly and clearly started the fact that he wouldn’t mind seeing the woman get mauled.

With another growl Derek released Jennifer and moved back to where Stiles was standing.

_______________  

Stiles honestly couldn’t believe that the woman had the nerve to just walk into the loft like she belonged there, it also occurred to Stiles that they were going to have to give the pups hell for leaving the door unlocked before they left, just because the Alphas didn’t need the door unlocked didn’t mean they had to make it any easier for them.

“Something we could do for you Ms Blake?” Stiles finally asked.

“I came to speak with Derek and here I find him with one of my students! A student who happens to be the Sheriff’s son!” She yelled out but Stiles got the feeling she was annoyed rather than actually upset.

“Well the way I see it you just entered into our home uninvited, said some very demeaning things to my mate and that look you’re giving me right now isn’t very flattering, if I were you I’d probably just leave before one of us forgets that we’re supposed to be keeping peace with the Argents,” he growled out which Derek backed up with an actual growl.

Without another word Ms Blake merely glared at Stiles for a moment before his control slipped a little and his magic pushed her a bit towards the door. Something flickered in her eyes for a moment when this happened but she said nothing else before she turned and finally left. Almost as soon as she was gone Stiles could feel himself relax again and he couldn’t seem to stop himself from laughing when Derek was suddenly up in his space again and nosing along his jaw.

“Was that what Deaton meant, about me seeming not quite human?” He finally asked when Derek pulled back a little again. The older man merely nodded. “How long do you think the red will last?”

“I don’t know, they weren’t this bright before and the actual fangs were new, why?” Derek asked shooting Stiles a curious look.

“Because mate o’ mine we need to tell my dad we’re actually together before your crazy little former fuck buddy does it for us,” Stiles said with a roll of his eyes. He couldn’t keep himself from laughing when what was clearly a whine escaped from Derek before he turned to head back upstairs.

“Don’t worry,” Stiles called after him, “I promise not to let him shoot you.”

The whine simply got louder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will try to get the next chap up as soon as I can, hopefully within the next couple of days. Did I mention that the full version of this story is now up to 66 pages in word? XD


	7. My weakness I feel I must finally show

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles gets more comfortable with his place in the pack and things are speeding along. Now there is just an upset Allison, confused Lydia and an angry Sheriff to deal with. Can't Stiles and Derek just catch a break already?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Terribly sorry for this taking so long, I've been really sick and I have finals coming up... ugh! Anyway thanks to everyone who's enjoying this so far... you're all amazing! Chapter title is from Mumford & Sons, "Awake My Soul". Enjoy!

 

The ride to the school was a quiet one. The two had tried the Stilinski house first only to find it void of the sheriff but at the same time they sighed in relief when they realised it would give Stiles a chance to at least get changed so that he didn’t literally look like the two of them had just rolled out of bed… which they had barring Ms Blake’s interruption… but his dad didn’t really need to know that little bit of information.

“Have you seen my…” Stiles question trailed off when he walked out of the bathroom to find Derek with his shirt off again, rolling around in his blankets. “Care to explain exactly what it is you’re doing there big guy?”

“Doesn’t smell like me,” Derek grunted out before going back to rolling around. Stiles could barely contain the laughter that threatened to escape him but it full on erupted when he looked to the window to see a pleased Isaac and alarmed Scott.

At this point Stiles was laughing and rolling around on the floor of his room until he found himself being snuggled up to by a happily growling Isaac. He stopped moving and allowed the teen to nuzzle him before surprisingly Scott joined in as well. When Scott pulled away though, he looked surprised and slightly alarmed before he looked to Derek who was now hanging over the side of the bed and watching the three of them with a lazy smirk on his face that none of them had seen before.

“Dude what the hell?” The teen asked simply and Derek chuckled at him, which sounded odd to Scott but deep down he liked knowing that his alpha was happy even if he’d rather have his claws ripped out one by one before he’d ever admit it out loud.

“Relax Scott its normal for you to want to scent Stiles; he’s pack but he’s my mate so you’ll all want to be closer to him. The fact that you’re best friends will probably make the connection between the two of you even stronger,” Derek said with small shrug of his shoulders before he sat up and slipped his shirt back on. Scott merely nodded before he grinned at Stiles and the two of them fist bumped.

“So what brings you guys over?” Stiles asked, not against them showing up but he couldn’t help but worry that something was wrong and whatever it was it probably had something to do with the unease he’d been feeling since they’d left the loft. There must have been a change in his heart beat because suddenly the two younger wolves were looking at him with bright eyes.

“Nothing bad we swear! At least we don’t think so anyway we’re not actually sure,” Isaac said quickly, blinking a moment before shaking his head and looking like a very confused puppy.

“We were at the lacrosse field practising a little when your dad showed up; he asked us where you were since you apparently didn’t come home last night,” Scott added while he looked at Stiles and wiggled his eyebrows at him which caused Stiles to roll his eyes at him. It didn’t need to be explained because the other two could clearly smell sex on both Stiles and Derek if the way they kept wrinkling their noses was any sign.

“And you said what to him exactly pup?” Derek asked, his voice a light growl.

“We said we would see if we could find you and that we’d let you know he was looking for you if we did,” Isaac said with a pleased look on his face. Stiles ruffled the other teen’s hair with a smile.

“Chris Argent was with him,” Scott said his demeanour suddenly far less amused than it had been. “And I’m pretty sure I picked up faintly on Lydia and Allison.”

Stiles and Derek exchanged looks at this before getting up from where they were and heading out of the room with Scott and Isaac following close behind them. Once they all got out to the Camaro, Isaac and Scott both looked a little lost as to what they should be doing until Derek moved the driver’s seat forward.

“In. Both of you.” He said simply causing the teens to go flying into the back seat while Stiles got in on the passenger side with a laugh.

\---------------

School on a Sunday was not something that Stiles enjoyed and not something that had been on his agenda but when they got there and saw Chris Argent standing there with his dad as well as Allison and Lydia he was really glad that Isaac and Scott had found them. Stiles was also glad that Derek was wearing sunglasses as they all tumbled out of the Camaro, as his eyes were redder than a stop sign right then.

“Dude your eyes!” Scott exclaimed in a hushed voice. Stiles leaned down to the side mirror, saw the red again himself and sighed.

“So apparently whenever you get red and growly I’m going to be rocking it too,” he said with a huff before grabbing Derek’s sunglasses off of him. “Please for the love of all that’s holy, all of you stay here!” Stiles hissed at them. Derek growled a little at this but said nothing, turning his gaze to stare at the ground so the other officer with Stiles’ dad wouldn’t see his eyes. “Derek he’s not going to try anything with my dad and the girls standing right there,” he added with a shake of his head.

Stiles quickly made his way over to the small group and sighed a little when he saw the defeated look on his dad’s face. Allison and Lydia both gave him weak smiles; clearly an attempt to let him know that they were okay and he approached them first, touching them each on the shoulder.

“Are you both all right?” He asked softly. The two nodded but Stiles wasn’t surprised when they each burrowed into one of his sides and he suddenly found himself questioning if Allison actually had a place in the pack.

“So apparently I find bodies now…” Lydia said sounding sad but at the same time almost impressed with herself.

“Derek, Scott and Isaac are here if you want to head over there, I can handle things with my dad if he’s already talked to you,” he said feeling rather alarmed but doing his best not to show it as he filed that bit of information away. Both girls nodded and Allison shot her dad a glare before the two of them headed off.

Stiles glanced towards Chris for a moment and wasn’t surprised to find the man looking at him like he knew exactly what the hell was going on. He was even less surprised when Chris approached him and tugged the collar of his tee-shit just enough so that the edge of the bite mark was showing, it looking almost pure white on his skin.

“So Hale took a mate, can’t say I’m exactly surprised,” he said with a frown. Stiles was about to shoot back with something clever when his dad chimed in.

“He took a what?” Stiles didn’t even have to turn around and look at his dad to know that the man’s eyebrow was probably twitching.

“This wasn’t how we were planning on telling you this, believe me!” Stiles said while turning around to face the man, while shooting Chris a glare of his own while he did so but he was sure it was lost behind the glasses. “Plus this only just happened and Derek and I were on our way to tell you when Scott and Isaac found us and said you were looking for me and…” He trailed off when his dad suddenly reached out, pulled the sunglasses off and saw the red eyes.

“Jesus kid you look like you swallowed tail lights!” His dad snapped, which caused Chris to snort and Stiles to glare even more. “Can’t you control that?”

“It doesn’t seem like it,” he said with a shake of his head.

“He won’t be able to control it until he changes,” Chris supplied which caused both Stilinski men to look at him in surprise but for different reasons.

“What do you mean changes?” “How the hell do you know that?” Were both yelled at the man.

“Changes into a wolf and I know that because you sure as hell aren’t the first human mate I’ve met in all the years I’ve been doing this,” he said with a shake of his head. “I’ll leave you both to it, I’ll be in touch,” he said before starting to walk away. “Stiles, make sure my daughter is home by one or I’m going to come looking for her,” he added before disappearing.

“You’re going to be a werewolf?” His dad asked running a hand over his face with a sigh that clearly said he should have seen it coming.

“Eventually.”

“And you’re Derek Hale’s mate?”

“Think of it more like werewolf married if that helps… actually I’m guessing that doesn’t…” he said and even where they were standing he could hear Derek snort loudly at this.

“So what, you’re telling me I can’t shoot him?” The Sheriff asked looking towards Derek.

“Not without causing me irreversible damage, no. But I’m thinking about it,” he said glancing back to his mate who was now sporting a look that said ‘oh shit’, much to the amusement of the betas with him who were clearly listening in.

“We’re going to talk about this later, all three of us, but right now this murder is a bit more important,” he said fixing Stiles with a glare that he then shot to Derek knowing now that the other man would hear him perfectly.

“Who was it?” Stiles asked and John knew that he should probably be concerned about his son’s sudden seriousness but after everything he’d been learning it really didn’t surprise him.

“First I need to know, were you with Derek last night?” John asked which of course caused Stiles to turn bright red.

“Dad!” He exclaimed before falling silent at the serious expression on the man’s face. “Why are you asking me that?” He shot back.

“Stiles this is important were you with Derek all night last night?” He asked, his voice going all sheriff in that moment.

“Yeah and he’s been with me all day today so far,” he said, the red in his eyes finally fading as they darted around quickly to see who was listening to the conversation.

“Good, good. The victim was Adrian Harris,” the elder Stilinski finally said with sigh.

“That’s why you asked me isn’t it? Because everyone knows that Kate Argent got information from him that she used to burn down the Hale house, people were suspecting Derek!” Stiles said his voice turning angry. “Were you?!” He asked, his eyes narrowing a bit at they spoke a faint bit of red starting to return to them.

“No of course not! Not with everything you both told me about what had happened but don’t think we won’t be talking about you staying over at his place all night on top of everything else!” He shot which caused Stiles to just hang his head for a moment.

“Was he killed here?” Stiles finally asked after a long quiet moment.

“Not in the school no, the woods that run along the back,” his dad responded. “And before you ask he was killed the same way as the others. Now get going, but you both better be at the house by seven.”

Stiles said nothing else before returning to the others despite the copious amount of things he’d wanted to say to his dad. He merely elbowed Derek in the side before getting back into the car.

\--------------- 

Once they got back to the loft Stiles found himself buried under everyone except Derek and Peter, who merely stood off to the side looking amused. Needless to say it got hot for the teen very quickly but he didn’t have the heart to disrupt them all from the happy snuffling sounds they were making so he just laid there and took it until a short quick growl from Derek finally got them all to move. They then spent a while recounting what had happened for those who hadn’t been there and Lydia explained to them all about finding the body.

“I think I may have an idea about what you are, I’ll need to do more research of course but if I’m right things will get far more interesting,” Peter said once everyone quieted down. Stiles raised a brow at the man but the older wolf merely smirked at him.

“Am I the only one that’s going to point out that she’s not pack?” Erica asked suddenly pointing at Allison. The huntress’ eyes went wide for a moment and then her gaze turned a little sad before she quickly stood and made her way to the door.

“Allison!” Scott called and Stiles’ heart went out to his friend.

“She’s right Scott, I’m not, I’m just a hunter,” she said, her voice sounding more defeated than Stiles had ever heard it, before she opened the door and slipped out. Scott jumped up to follow but Stiles was already on the move.

“Scott stay here!” He said quickly before running out after the girl. He knew that it would be a long time before things were healed between Allison, Erica and Boyd but the two knew that she was there when Derek and Scott went to get them back so he hoped that with time they would be able to mend things, hell even Isaac had forgiven her. He got the feeling though that their violent past wasn’t the reason Erica had said anything, she honestly seemed to just be following the rules that non-pack members shouldn’t be there at meetings and Stiles wanted to count that as a step in the right direction.

Stiles didn’t need to look behind him to know that Derek was following him but allowing him distance to do whatever it was he was planning to do. Honestly though, Stiles didn’t have a plan, he just had a gut feeling and he was running with it. Situations like these seemed to be happening more and more lately where the pack was concerned and Stiles couldn’t help but wonder if it was because of whatever role he was filling in the pack. He pushed the thoughts away though as he caught up with Allison just as she was about to get in her car.

“She’s right you’re not pack,” he said which caused Allison to frown as she turned to look at him. “But you want to be,” He added. Allison looked at him in surprise for a moment before she slowly started to nod her head. It hadn’t taken him long to figure out why she had seemed so sad when she urged Scott to join the pack finally, it was because joining meant another barrier between the two of them. “Then why not ask?” He wasn’t all that surprised when she snorted.

“I’m a hunter Stiles and even worse than that I’m an Argent! Do you really think that Derek would allow me to join the pack, especially after what I did? After what she did?!” She asked, her voice was frantic but she still kept it low. He knew she was trying not to be heard by the pack and he didn’t have the heart to tell her that it was a useless venture at that point. Stiles merely approached her before wrapping her up in a hug and that seemed to be the straw that broke the camel’s back because she was then quietly crying into his chest.

“True you’re a hunter from a very well-known family of hunters and true you attacked Erica and Boyd but you were grieving for your mom. You lashed out in a way that made sense because no one gave you all the information. Believe me I get it, do you know how many doctors I attacked after my mom died?” He asked and Allison looked up at him in surprise, “I even had all the facts and I did it anyway. Yeah I was young but I understood what was going on and I still lashed out at the people I could,” he added with a shrug of his shoulders.

“So let me ask you, do you regret it?” Allison looked at him with teary eyes and nodded. “Do you love Scott?” Again she nodded and again Stiles could pick up on something else in her gaze but that was clearly between her and Scott, he wasn’t about to get in the middle of it, again. “I’m sure this won’t be the last time I say this or any of us do, but you aren’t Kate. You’re our friend, your Scott’s anchor for crying out loud! You do kick ass stuff that I could only dream about being able to pull off and despite what’s happened you’ve been our ally, even when you didn’t have to be.”

Allison let out a shaky sob at this before snuggling into Stiles chest even more. He did what he did best and just held her letting her cry it out, rubbing a hand up and down her back in a comforting motion.

“You’re really good at this.” She said with a sniffle and Stiles beamed at her.

“I know, it’s a gift, or it’s because I’m the “Pack Mom”, as those heathens call it, or both, I’m not really sure. I think it could be one of those chicken or the egg type things,” he said before nudging her gently with his shoulder as she finally laughed a little and she slowly pulled away from him. His ADHD had calmed down a lot since becoming mates with Derek but it wasn’t completely gone and he still had his tangent moments, so sue him, “So what do you think Sourwolf?” He asked suddenly as he glanced over his shoulder at Derek and Allison went wide eyed realising that the alpha had heard the whole exchange.

“He’s right; you’re nothing like Kate because she never would have felt anything over what happened with Boyd and Erica, the fact that it’s still bothering you after all these months, even after helping us get them back, is proof of that,” Derek said as he moved to where the two of them stood. “Your father will probably try to kill me for this, but I think you could benefit the pack.”

Allison’s eyes widened again at this and her mouth open and closed a few times like she honestly couldn’t believe what she was hearing and Stiles could understand her surprise. He didn’t say anything though at Derek’s poor attempt at saying Allison was needed and merely raised a brow at his mate. He wasn’t an idiot he knew packs needed humans in them to keep everyone balanced with their wolves, they needed others to help them keep one foot in their humanity. At first he was worried about turning because the pack would lose that from him but he’d come to realise they had others they could turn to Allison being one of them, also his dad, Lydia and even though he didn’t know it Danny. Jackson didn’t say it but Stiles knew he was still in close contact with his friend.

“Once you have time to get adjusted to the rest of the pack and them to you,” he said no doubt meaning allowing everyone time to forgive each other, at least a little though he wasn’t sure how Allison felt about Peter at all, as well as time for the wolves to get adjusted to having a hunter in the pack, “I’ll give you the pack bite,” Derek said before he suddenly found himself with his arms full of a happily sobbing Allison. Stiles was tempted to snicker at the surprised look on Derek’s face but he managed to keep it in.

It was a moment after this that happy yips and such could he heard coming from the building. Stiles and Derek merely exchanged amused expressions before shaking their heads and leading the other teen back to the loft.

Once back inside Allison was quickly welcomed back by Scott, Lydia and Isaac. Peter and Cora looked indifferent, but Stiles wasn’t surprised, so it was hard to say one way or the other with them but the tension was clear in Erica and Boyd so Stiles started to make his way to them, surprisingly though the two moved to approach Allison slowly, so he dropped back to where Derek was watching the three of them.

“We heard what you said, I can’t say I trust you or that I forgive you yet, but I think I sort of get it and I’m not going to object to you being here,” Erica said her voice flat and Boyd merely nodding at what she had said but saying nothing himself.

“I can live with that,” Allison said with a small nod finding herself really happy that Erica had said ‘yet’ and not that she would never forgive her. She had already felt horrible about what had happened with the two of them and she’d felt even worse after she’d found out what had really happened the night her mother had gotten bit. In fact she hadn’t even really spoken to her father since finding out, angry at him for still keeping secrets from her.

Stiles leaned against Derek as the exchange took place and he couldn’t help but hope that everyone would eventually work out their differences, not that they really had much choice or a lot of time to do it, before he tilted his head back to look up at Derek.

“What Stiles?”

“I think we should ask Jackson to come home,” he said simply. He didn’t need to be looking at everyone else to know that they were all staring at him, Derek merely raised a brow.

“Dude is that a good idea?” Scott spoke up from where he and Isaac were now wrapped around Allison, an interesting little bit that Stiles made mental note of for later, he almost laughed because he could see Lydia, Cora and Peter also making note of it.

“Hate to break it to you Scotty but according to the reports that Deaton’s contact has been sending to Derek, that I’ve been reading that Derek didn’t know I was reading,” this got a small growl from his mate, “Until now, he’s got more control over his wolf than you do already buddy,” this earned him a whine from his friend and he sighed. “It’s not just that, I think our current situation calls for all hands on deck and I’d be a hell of a lot more comfortable with everyone being where I can see them instead of this weird hollow feeling I have,” he noticed both Peter and Cora looking at him in surprise but he didn’t get a chance to ask them why before Derek was turning him around to face him.

“You can feel Jackson’s absence?” He asked his expression a mix of confused and surprised.

“I can kind of feel everyone, you and Scott are the easiest. Peter and Cora feel slightly like you but aren’t nearly as strong, Lydia, Isaac, Erica and Boyd are all about the same, I can even pick up Allison a little now even without the pack bite, Dad and Mrs McCall too and I'm pretty sure Danny is around in there somewhere, but when I try to feel Jackson it’s like this weird blank spot,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders. “Should I not be feeling that?”

“Not unless you’re a wolf,” Peter suddenly said causing Stiles brows to go up to this hairline.

“Is it because of what Deaton told us?” Stiles asked turning his attention back to Derek. When they both saw the curious looks from the rest of the pack the two sighed and filled them in on what had come to light during the conversation the night before. They did manage to leave out the sex, despite how much needling Lydia, Erica, Cora and Peter tried to do. Stiles firmly refused to wonder why Peter wanted that information… Creeperwolf is a Pedowolf.

“Way to go Batman!” Erica said with a smirk when they filled them in on the exchange with Ms Blake earlier that morning. “Our Mom doesn’t put up with anyone’s shit,” she added with a smirk as her, Cora and Lydia suddenly started high fiving each other and they were pretty sure they saw Scott and Isaac fist bump which Stiles and Derek only rolled their eyes at.

“He’s already mastered the Hale eye-roll!” Scott shouted which got a laugh from everyone except the two alphas. The thought made Stiles pause for a moment as it finally sunk in that he actually was an alpha in a sense. He was the alpha’s mate true and that did extend leadership to Stiles but the fact that Derek’s wolf had marked him as his equal and willingly shared its power with him made it even more so, he was an alpha in his own right even without being a wolf.

“It is entirely possible with everything going on that it is speeding up the process between the two of you,” Peter supplied with a smirk of his own that said he probably knew something else but he wasn’t going to give it up just yet, then again Stiles couldn’t help but wonder if that was just the expression Peter made so everyone thought he knew more than he did.

The group talked a little longer before Derek dismissed them all directing them to head to the old Hale house to train for a while before they all headed home. Of course Peter said that he would merely be going to work on research but neither Derek nor Stiles was in the mood to argue with him so they let the older wolf be, sometimes it was just easier that way. As the others filed out Allison hung back a little and it was clear she wanted to talk. Surprisingly it was Erica and Boyd who offered to wait for her outside and Stiles gave them both a thankful smile for trying so hard already.

“Something wrong pup?” Derek asked once the door was shut. Allison looked at him for a minute before beaming brightly at him and then her look turned serious.

“Do you really think my dad will try to kill you because of me joining the pack?” She asked softly. Both Stiles and Derek were actually surprised that she was still thinking about the off the cuff comment that Derek had made.

“Attack yes, succeed no,” Derek said with a thoughtful look on his face and at the look of confusion on Allison’s Stiles found himself jumping in.

“You know as a pack we’re stronger and the fact that Derek has a mate now makes him even stronger still so even if your dad decided to try an attack he’d have a hell of time,” Stiles explained and Allison nodded at this but was clearly troubled by it. “Even if he did Allison he’d only be doing it trying to protect you.”

“I’m sick of him trying to protect me!” She suddenly snarled out, “All he does is try to protect me and it blows up in _my_ face!”

“So tell him not to,” Derek said and it took Stiles a moment to figure out what he meant before his face lit up and he suddenly planted a sloppy wet kiss on the older man.

“You’re beautiful Sourwolf!” He yelled out.

“He wouldn’t listen to me,” Allison mumbled out.

“Actually if you made it an order he wouldn’t really have much of a choice,” Stiles said before holding up a hand at Allison’s puzzled expression, “Think about it you’re currently the oldest living _female_ in the Argent family!” He said excitedly. It only took a moment before Allison’s face took on a knowing look and she grabbed onto the both of them, hugging them tightly.

“We might be ‘retired’ but he’ll still have to honour the Code,” she said with a grin. “Thank you both!” She said before grabbing her bag and running out of the loft to meet up with the others.

Once they were alone Stiles found himself flat on the couch once again being pinned and more or less feeling like his lungs were going to be sucked out through his mouth, not that he was complaining. When the kiss broke Derek nosed along Stiles’ jaw, nipping a little before he pulled back.

“You did amazing today,” he said and Stiles beamed at him.

“You didn’t do too badly yourself,” he responded with a grin. “I’d almost totally forgotten that the Argents were matriarchal, can you even imagine what Grandma Argent must have been like?” He asked with a shudder. Derek chuckled at him for a moment before shaking his head.

“You would have remembered eventually and I mean it.”

“Let’s see if you still feel like that after dinner with my dad,” he said with a laugh as Derek winced.

The two laid together for a long while, neither really feeling the urge to speak as Stiles mulled over everything in his brain. He thought about what he wanted to say of a long while before he opened his mouth again.

“Maybe… maybe you should give me the bite now,” he whispered out softly. He could feel Derek tense on top of him and knew that was not what the man had been expecting him to say.

“I only just got you Genim; don’t make me risk losing you so soon,” Derek said quietly.

“How the hell do you even know my first name, let alone how to pronounce it?” Stiles asked surprised by both the softness on Derek’s face and the fact that he had never told him his actual name.

“I heard your dad yell it once, I was out on your roof and he was trying to get you to go to sleep,” he said simply and Stiles merely nodded his head.

“Sourwolf is a hotter Creeperwolf,” he said with a snort before his look turned serious again. “If Deaton is right and Deucalion’s plan is the same as my nightmare, vision, whatever the hell you want to call it, he wants you to kill the pack Derek; he wants you to kill _our_ pack and sure I can make some sort of kick ass barriers now and make windows explode when I’m having an emotional or mental breakdown, but if it came down to a fight to defend the _pups_ , to defend _you_ , I’d be completely useless at this point,” Stiles said quickly, his voice breaking a few times as he spoke. “Deaton said my spark is changing to help my turning so it would be reasonable to assume that the bite wouldn’t kill me,” he added with a small shrug of his shoulders.

“I thought you wanted to wait,” Derek said knowing he was pushing it and his thought was proven right when Stiles let out a frustrated noise and tried to push him away. Derek didn’t allow himself to budge though.

“Damn it Derek! I wanted to, you know that but research, barriers and exploding shit aren’t going to cut it anymore especially if I can’t always control it because I’m in some sort of weird flux! I don’t want to be left on the side lines watching you all possibly get killed!” He yelled out, his eyes wide and Derek could see all the stress and fear at war there, so he did the only thing he could think to do and hugged Stiles close.

“Tomorrow, we’ll do it at the old house, but we’re warning your dad, he already knows it’s coming now so I’d rather not catch him off guard again,” he said finally. Stiles merely let out a shuddering sigh of relief and nodded his head.

\--------------- 

After an hour’s worth of making out and cuddles, Derek and Stiles eventually found themselves sitting at the table of the Stilinski house but this time instead of a confused expression, the Sheriff was sporting a pretty annoyed one.

“So who wants to explain this mate business?” The man said with a frown. Stiles sighed but decided to bite the bullet and stood, pulling his shirt over his head and showing his dad his back. “Christ kid, a tattoo too?” John grumbled as Stiles fixed his shirt and sat back down.

“It looks like one sir but it’s actually a mark that signifies Stiles as my mate. Every wolf has a mark that belongs to them, mine is that particular triskele. It’s something we choose when we come of age and if that wolf becomes an alpha their mark becomes the mark for the pack,” Derek explained while lifting his own shirt to show the Sheriff his tattoo and Stiles looked at him in surprise when he sat back down.

“I thought that was always your pack mark?” Stiles asked seeming to forget his dad was even there for a moment.

“My mother had a similar one but it was a little more detailed. When I got the tattoo after the… after the fire, I got mine simpler but it still means just as much to me,” Stiles nodded at this before turning his attention back to his dad finally.

“Dad, when I fully joined the pack, Derek’s wolf chose me as its mate and the mark you saw started to show up more and more the closer I got to everyone,” Stiles said leaving out all the pain and damage that was caused because of said mark but John narrowed his eyes at the both of them anyway and Stiles was not taking that as a good sign.

“So is this something that can be undone?” He asked and Stiles couldn’t help but look at this dad with an alarmed expression on his face.

“No and I wouldn’t want there to be a way!” He said quickly grabbing hold of Derek’s hand under the table. He could slowly start to feel his emotions rising and he realised that it wasn’t just himself that was upset by the question.

“I’ve said it before Genim you’re only seventeen, you’ve got your whole life ahead of you! And Argent was saying something about you becoming a werewolf too? Is that just because you’re together?” John asked quickly, his frown growing.

“Of course not! I told Derek I wanted the bite even before we knew we were mates!” Stiles shot back causing John to go wide eyed.

“What?” He whispered out. “How could you want to do that? What about college?”

Stiles really couldn’t help but be annoyed at the line of questioning that his dad was going down. He really didn’t understand why becoming a wolf suddenly meant he wasn’t planning on finishing school or any of the other plans he had in mind. He just wanted to protect his pack and oh yeah not die!

“Dad, I’m becoming a wolf, not drinking the Kool-Aid. It doesn’t mean I won’t finish school, hell Lydia already has plans to head to MIT after we graduate, you think just because she’s pack that we’ll stop her? I mean we clearly didn’t stop Jackson and his family from moving to London,” Stiles asked with a frown as Derek squeezed his had in silent support.

“You said ‘we’, why?” John asked, his voice sounding slightly curious.

“As my mate sir, he’s my equal, my other half; he’s just as much in charge of the pack as I am,” Derek explained. John merely nodded his head at this and slowly seemed to be finding the thought a bit easier to handle with that information.

“I’m just not quite understanding the whole need to turn you into a werewolf,” John said finally with a sigh.

“Argent got that wrong,” Derek said again. “A wolf’s mate doesn’t have to be turned as soon as the bond is completed, it’s rare but some never end up turned at all even if they agreed to the bite, but most decide to in the long run.”

“Originally I wasn’t going to get the bite at all but then when I decided to it wasn’t going to be until the end of school but then we bumped up the time table to when we were done dealing with everything that’s going on now,” Stiles finally mumbled out bringing his dad’s attention back to him.

“Why change your mind at all if you don’t need it?” Stiles could hear the concern clearly in the man’s voice and sighed he knew his dad was just trying to protect him but it saddened him at the same time that the man didn’t seem to trust him on this. Then again when he thought about it he couldn’t really blame him after all the lying he’d done.

“My Adderall isn’t working right anymore. I’m all over the place and sometimes it feels like I’m going crazy and I don’t know why and then I started having nightmares, ones like mom used to get. On top of everything else I’m losing control over what I can do with magic and that makes me dangerous to everyone,” he said his voice low and shaky. “I didn’t want to think that anything was wrong, I kept telling myself it was because of everything that was happening but then the nightmares kept getting worse and when I try to sleep alone I can’t and Derek confirmed everything for me when he noticed a change in my scent.”

“That true? You can smell that on him?” John asked his eyes now wide, worried and a little heartbroken, exactly the look Stiles never wanted to see there.

“Yes Sir, it was faint at first but it’s slowly gotten stronger, it’s not strong enough for the betas to pick up on yet but it’s only a matter of time I think,” Derek said giving his mate a sad look. Stiles hadn’t known the scent had gotten stronger but he was at least happy to know the others couldn’t smell it.

“What’s it smell like?” Stiles asked, when he realised his dad wasn’t going to. “Derek, what does it smell like?” Derek sat there quiet for a long moment as both Stilinski men stared him down.

“Decay,” Derek finally said with a faint whine to his voice, but Stiles doubted that his dad was able to hear it.

“Oh Genim,” John said softly before getting up and moving to where Stiles sat before quickly gathering the teen into his arms. “It will fix this right?” He asked levelling his stare at Derek.

“The healthier a person is the greater the chance the bite will take, we can’t carry diseases so when someone with a condition is turned our healing takes care of it or at least does what it can,” Derek supplied. Stiles honestly wanted to smack him for being so honest with his dad but he knew his mate was just trying to make sure he had all the information.

“You’ll be doing it soon then?” John asked while finally pulling back from Stiles and really looking at his son for a moment. It was then that he realised just how exhausted Stiles actually looked and he was angry at himself for not noticing it earlier in the day, he’d just been too focused on the job.

“Tomorrow actually,” Stiles said and when his dad opened his mouth to say something he held up his hand, “I’m not telling you to argue Dad, we wanted you to know so you weren’t surprised again later, I know you’re not a fan of the whole werewolf thing but this is happening whether it’s what you wanted for me in life or not,” he added sounding very tired.

“I was just going to ask you to be careful son,” John said before patting the both of them on the shoulders before leaving the room and disappearing upstairs. When Stiles heard the bedroom door close he looked over at Derek.

“What’s he doing?”

“I think he’s talking to your mother,” Derek said trailing off as he went back to listening to what he man was saying. “He’s saying that he’s sure she would have handled all of this better but that she’d be proud of you for the way you’ve turned out,” he murmured as he reached up to rub at the back of Stiles’ neck in a comforting manner as the teen quietly started to cry.

 ---------------

When the two woke the next morning it was to a note from John but surprisingly it was for Derek. He thanked him for being there for Stiles and taking care of him and more or less informed him that if he didn’t let him know how everything went as soon as they were done he was going to kick Derek’s ass whether he was a werewolf or not. Stiles couldn’t help but be amused by the note and feeling like his dad was slowly coming to terms with it. Still he figured it was only a matter of time before the fact that he spent the night at Derek’s came up again.

Stiles was tempted to eat but Derek quickly advised against it and when Stiles protested the alpha told him to go right ahead if he felt like being covered in his own sick while he turned. The thought turned him a little green so Stiles decided to listen to his mate for once. The two were talking quietly when his phone started ringing.

“Scott?” He asked knowing that his friend should clearly be in class.

“Stiles are you with Derek?” Scott asked, his voice sounding tight, Stiles looked at Derek and the both of them looked at the phone confused before Stiles put his friend on speakerphone.

“Scott what’s wrong?” Derek asked clearly picking up on something that Stiles hadn’t. The two were even more confused when they suddenly heard multiple sighs of relief on the other end of the phone.

“See I told you she was lying!” They could clearly hear Lydia exclaim.

“Who was lying? What the hell is going on and where are you even calling from?” Stiles asked quickly.

“We’re in one of the stairwells,” Isaac chimed in.

“Ms Blake was being really weird in class and kept smirking at all of us,” Erica said suddenly and even though he wasn’t saying anything they could only assume that Boyd was there as well.

“Okay that doesn’t explain the lying so…” Stiles prompted even waving his hands even though they couldn’t see him do so.

“When we were leaving class her phone rang and when she answered it and she said Derek,” Scott finally said causing both Stiles and Derek to look at each other in surprise.

“I couldn’t hear what she said but I’m pretty sure she was trying to make us all think that Derek was calling her, that he was going behind your back,” Allison spoke up.

“I can’t believe this bitch,” Stiles said with a huff. “Something just isn’t adding up and the fact that classes are even going on today is weird.”

“We have a free period now,” Lydia spoke up again, and she sounded both glad and annoyed at that.

“Keep an eye on Ms Blake and meet up at the loft tomorrow after school. Erica and Boyd come if you can,” Derek said knowing that Erica and Boyd’s families were keeping closer tabs on them than before since they came back. The fact that they even made it to the meetings was impressive. There were a few moments of everyone agreeing before they hung up and Stiles was quickly sending off a text. “Do I want to know who you just text?”

“I’m asking Cora and Peter to do some digging on Ms Blake; something about her isn’t sitting right with me,” he said before he finally sat the phone back down.

“What do you mean?”

“Well think about it, Peter told me before that you didn’t quite seem all there sometimes when you came back from being around her and then there was what you had told me about her smelling like me and the strange behaviour, plus my own dealings with her, lastly the fact that up until yesterday I’ve never heard you call her anything but Jennifer,” Stiles said quickly while Derek sat there and blinked at him for a moment before his eyes widened slightly.

“I haven’t,” he said with a shake of his head as if he honestly couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

The two set the issue aside about an hour later once Peter confirmed that he was on the case and had actually been looking into the woman a lot recently. They then headed out to the old Hale house. Stiles paused for a moment on the porch and glared at the mark on the door that had been left by the Alpha pack, the first one that had shown up just after Erica and Boyd had gone missing. Derek said nothing though he merely squeezed Stiles’ hand for a moment

“I do so hope you’ll forgive us for the door, not that it really makes much difference.” A voice suddenly said from behind them. Stiles turned slowly to stare as Derek started to growl deeply at the man.

“Deucalion.”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You all thought he was going to get the bite in this chapter didn't you? *evil grin* Sadly I am not quite done ruining Stiles' life just yet... I have to pick on him because I've seen way to many ASPCA commercials and to me Derek is one of those poor puppies in the cages and I just can't pick on him... at least in this part of the story... yeah I'm a terrible person... it keeps me up at night XD
> 
> As always feel free to find me on tumblr!


	8. Lend Me Your Hand and We'll Conquer Them All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A brief encounter with part of the Alpha pack, the Darach is revealed, a surprise person appears to help Stiles when he needs it most and Stiles tells everyone about a day he remembered well with his mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay with getting this post done I was out of my meds so I did my best. I feel like every story has that chapter that is dry and hurts the author... this was that chapter for me. >.

 

“Now, now Derek, is that anyway to treat an old family friend?” The blind wolf asked with a smirk. Derek said nothing though and only growled louder at the man.

“You’re not welcome here, you and your pack.” Stiles snapped out. He’d no doubt that the wolves could hear his heart hammering loud and clear but he honestly didn’t care. He knew something had to be up if Deucalion was suddenly showing up after remaining quiet for the past few days. He couldn’t help but wonder if it had something to do with the Darach and its reappearance with the murder of Harris. To say he was frustrated would have been an understatement, either the Darach was killing people and the Alpha pack was attacking them or both were silent and the pack was scrambling about trying to get a handle on things, either way it needed to stop or Stiles was pretty sure he was going to lose whatever was left of his sanity.

Thinking about the Darach though led Stiles back to the theory that whatever or whoever it was, was somehow connected to the Alpha pack, that it existing was their fault and what the twins had told him only made that belief stronger. He didn’t have any actual proof of it but growing up with a cop for a parent led to developing a certain gut feeling that usually never led Stiles wrong.

“Ah young Stiles, the twins informed me that I was hasty in my judgement of you,” Deucalion said as he tilted his head in the teen’s direction, “I suppose we’ll see won’t we?” He added with a smile that contained far too many teeth. Of course the fact that his tone was just dripping with enough sarcasm that would make even someone like Peter say ‘Seriously?’ didn’t help matters any.

Derek was shifted into his beta form at this point and snapped his teeth at the older wolf, not one of his more brilliant moves in Stiles’ opinion but he did applaud his mate for at least not out right attacking. Derek wanted to rip the man’s head off for the clear threat against his mate but he could sense Kali lurking around somewhere even if Stiles couldn’t. He was learning that diving head first into fights usually ended badly and they hadn’t noticed or they were just that crazy that they thought he would attack Deucalion right then and leave Stiles unprotected. He could feel Stiles tense against his side so he was left with only one option and let out a howl loud enough to shake the ground.

The two alphas had clearly not been expecting him to go that route as Kali appeared from wherever she had been hiding and shot a confused look towards Deucalion. Derek was actually a little surprised by the exchange. Clearly the two weren’t aware of the fact that Stiles was a marked mate. He could only assume that because Stile had yet to be turned that the two alphas assumed that the bond between them was average.

“What’s the matter didn’t plan for this? Did you seriously think you could get him to fight you right now?” Stiles asked his tone mocking and that clearly annoyed the woman if the way she snarled at him was anything to go by. He was really trying his best to get a handle on his magic right then so he was rambling and he knew it but they didn’t need to know that, hell he wasn’t even sure if they were aware of what he was. Then again it didn’t seem like anyone was completely sure.

“You’re little mate will look even better once I rip his throat out.” Kali snapped. Although it didn’t show she was feeling far less confident since Ethan and Aiden had ignored Deucalion’s call. She’d been leery of the plan ever since the Darach had made its presence known and there was clearly something being kept from her, in fact this attack seemed a little unplanned even to her.

Stiles didn’t even have a chance to respond to the taunt like he’d intended when Derek was suddenly fully shifted and pinning Kali to the ground under his heavy paws. He snapped at her neck with his giant jaws but she managed to keep his teeth just far enough from her neck so that he was unable to rip it out. Stiles knew he shouldn’t have allowed himself to get distracted when he was suddenly reminded of why when he felt a clawed hand wrap around his neck, not enough to hurt him but just enough to remind him that they weren’t alone.

If he could’ve gotten away with it he would have face-palmed right then because even though he hadn’t fallen for it at first Derek stepped right into it the second time and Stiles did even have a chance for any sort of barrier, not that he was even sure he’d be able to muster one right then because he’d been trying since the other two had shown up and while he could sense his magic he couldn’t draw on it, it almost felt like something was keeping it at bay.

“Derek, if you would be so kind as to let Kali go, I’d hate for Stiles to have an accident.” Deucalion said as if he were having idol chat about the weather and it made Stiles roll his eyes annoyance.

Derek’s head suddenly snapped up and he growled at the older man while slowly pulling back from Kali. Stiles didn’t even get out a warning when Kali suddenly raked her claws down Derek’s back causing him to howl loudly but he still managed to hold his ground.

“Do we have your attention now?” She growled, talking to Derek but looking right at Stiles with a mocking expression on her face.

Stiles couldn’t do anything but focus on the blood that was starting to mat down Derek’s fur and drip onto the forest floor. He knew that Deucalion was talking again, no doubt making his demands about Derek needing to join them, that he needed to destroy his own pack for power, the threats they knew were coming, but Stiles couldn’t hear any of it.

He knew he was seeing everything tinted red because of the power and energy flowing from Derek but between that and the blood, it was too much. He could feel his heart beating faster and he wouldn’t have been surprised if Deucalion thought it was because he was afraid of him, but he didn’t care, he couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t think about anything else and he was damn sure that he was about to have a panic attack. The fact that he hadn’t passed out would have been impressive if he had control of his thoughts right then. The bastard who had taken his pups was making demands of them in their own territory? That bitch dared to lay her filthy claws on his mate? Who the hell gave them the right?

He wanted them dead. He had never wanted to see anyone gone more than those two in that moment, even more than he had wanted Peter gone when he was insane, and again had he been more in more control he probably would have been alarmed by this but he was running on the pure instinct that was being passed from the bond he shared with Derek and his wolf. He vaguely registered that Derek and Kali were now staring at him and he was sure he could faintly hear someone talking, he just didn’t realise it was him.

“I’ll kill you, how dare you. I’ll kill you…” Derek heard the mumbling coming from Stiles and Kali clearly heard it as well as she was slowly moving away from them.

Deucalion was clearly too caught up in whatever the hell nonsense he was spewing to realise what was happening or the danger that they were all suddenly in. Derek watched in shocked fascination as Stiles started to shake a little from whatever was building in him, his eyes getting brighter by the second until they reminded him of flaming coals. He hardly had a chance to howl out a warning to the pack members he could sense approaching before some sort of shockwave erupted from Stiles that felt similar to when he’d shattered the windows at the loft.

\--------------

Derek wasn’t sure how much time had passed when he finally came back to himself but the fact that the wounds that Kali had left were almost completely healed told him it had been a good bit. The fact that he couldn’t pick up on a trace of either of the other alphas was a bonus. He pushed himself up on shaky paws and made his way back to where he knew Stiles was. He was glad to see some of the pack surrounding the teen but what scared the hell out of him was the fact that Stiles wasn’t moving. He was seconds away from panicking when he finally picked up on the rapid heartbeat that he knew belonged to his mate. He moved past the group, laying down next to Stiles and let out a small whine before lapping gently at the teen’s chin.

“We called Deaton,” Isaac said breaking the silence, “He said Stiles most likely exhausted himself.”

“Dude he levelled what was left of the house!” Scott exclaimed after scoffing a little at what Isaac had said.

Derek finally looked around to see that they were indeed now in a pile of rubble that had once been the remains of his family home. He also noticed the concerned looks on his packs faces, he quickly fixed that though by letting out an unconcerned huff before laying his large head on his mate’s chest. He was sure once Stiles was up and moving again there would be questions from everyone about what had happened and probably also about his wolf form but he would deal with it then once he was sure that Stiles was okay.

_He was not seeing this… He was not watching Derek making out with Ms Blake. It wasn’t possible, it just couldn’t be. Derek was his mate; he wouldn’t do that to him. The two of them finally stopped and turned in his direction. Ms Blake could clearly see him but to Derek it was like he wasn’t even there, his eyes were open but it was obvious that the alpha wasn’t seeing anything or at least not him. Stiles could only assume that was the trance like state that Peter had told him about when they first suspected that something wasn’t right about the woman._

_"Poor little Spark, did you honestly think you could keep me away from the alpha with this silly little mate business,” The woman said mockingly. Stiles shook his head at this, bringing his hands up to pull at this hair as his head suddenly started to pound as she spoke. “I’ve seen mates little Spark and you’re not it, if you were he would have turned you by now and yet here you are still… just a silly little human who thinks they have power.” She said taunting him as her face suddenly twisted into something unrecognisable._

_In fact had Stiles not just seen the change he wouldn’t even know that what he was looking at had once been human, let alone his teacher. As she reached out for him the pounding in his head grew until he was sure he would pass out from the pain, but how did you pass out when you were clearly already dreaming, did you wake up? Was this even a dream? He didn’t know anymore, everything felt to real, the feeling of helplessness, the pain in his head; it was more than he could take._

_“Push her out!” A voice suddenly sounded from his side and though it took a moment he managed to turn his head just enough to see an older woman he didn’t recognise, at least not at first. It didn’t take him terribly long to recognise the same features that he so admired in his mate nor the fact that she looked just the same as the day he’d met her._

_“Mrs Hale?” He whispered out now sure he was dreaming and about to die if he was seeing her but she merely smiled at him softly, the same way she had when she’d been alive._

_“She’s feeding off your spark; you need to push that pain you’re feeling back at her, reject her hold.” She said quickly. Stiles wasn’t quite sure what she meant but nodded his head anyway before finally allowing himself to focus on the pain, and holy hell did he regret that!_

_It didn’t take long before the pain slammed into his head causing him to scream, feeling like someone was taking an ice pick to his brain. He could hear Ms Blake… no the Darach laughing at him so he quickly gritted his teeth against it doing his best to keep from crying out again. He focused on the pain as best he could and the more he focused on it the more it took shape. He could finally see it clearly in his mind, a sickly tether that was radiating pain._

_“Yes that’s it!” He could hear Talia and if he focused hard enough he could hear what clearly sounded like the pack all calling for him, as well as a whine he’d recognise anywhere as Derek. “You’re doing great Genim, I knew you would.” God he wished she were still alive._

_With another scream Stiles pushed at the tether while focusing on snapping it and sending it back where it had come from and just before he opened his eyes he heard a satisfying blood curdling scream and caught a glimpse of what looked to be an old twisted stump._

_\--------------_

Outside the dream everyone from the pack who had made it there was beside themselves. No one was sure what to do for the teen and they all felt a little like they were losing their minds as they kept shifting back and forth between their human and beta forms. Everyone was touching the alpha pair anywhere they could reach and Scott was even saying his best friend’s name over and over again, something that was soon being done by everyone when the teen started to scream and thrash about. Peter noticed that the teen’s eye movement picked up the more they called to him and he also realised that Derek was keeping himself quiet and that just wouldn’t do.

“Nephew, let him know you’re here!” Peter said through gritted teeth as another wave of pain crashed over them all. He knew Derek couldn’t speak like this but he let out a grunt of thanks when Derek let out a whine to alert Stiles of his presence. “Not what I had in mind but clearly it’s working.” He huffed out.

The group continued their efforts until suddenly Stiles screamed out again and the pain that had been gripping them all disappeared. Sensing now was as good a time as any Peter went and grabbed a spare set of pants out of the trunk of the Camaro and held them out to Derek who glared at him for a moment and even in wolf form it was easy to pick up on the younger man’s annoyance.

“It’s either shift and put on pants now or do it when Stiles wakes up, which I doubt you’ll want to be away from him then.” Peter said with a roll of his eyes.

No one even really noticed when Derek shifted back and slipped into the offered jeans, they just all shifted out of the way when Derek moved to cradle Stiles to his chest while they all waited for him to wake up. He didn’t bother with a shirt as the wounds were still closing but he knew it would only be a few minutes more, maybe half an hour at most. Derek filled them in on the run in with Deucalion and Kali and what had led to Stiles being out in the first place when Scott piped up with the dreaded question.

“What were you guys doing out here anyway?” Derek sighed at this because clearly everyone but Scott had figured it out without needing to be told.

“I was going to give Stiles the bite,” Derek grumbled and then growled when Scott’s eyes suddenly flashed and he looked like he was going to protest, “Scott, don’t. Stiles was the one who asked me for the bite and no he doesn’t need it to be my mate, his reasons are his own.” Scott deflated quickly at this but the look on his face clearly said he’d be talking to Stiles about it once he was able. Isaac and Cora just looked excited by the idea and as always Peter looked amused, but Derek was more than certain he could pick up on a little hint of knowing in his uncle’s gaze. Peter’s sense of smell had always been one of the best in the family and even without being an alpha Derek wouldn’t be surprised if he had picked up on the scent of decay from the teen.

“Any reason you and Isaac were the only ones who came?” Cora asked suddenly poking Scott in the shoulder clearly attempting to shift the focus for which Derek was grateful.

“Believe it or not it was Ethan and Aiden who warned us even before you called Derek,” Isaac said with a puzzled look on his face, “They told us what Deucalion was planning and said that they really didn’t want to be a part of it anymore.” He added.

“Seems our Red left quite the impression on those two.” Peter said with a smirk as Stiles started to shift around with a groan.

“Guess it’s a good thing we haven’t let them talk to Sourwolf then,” He suddenly said with an exhausted smirk on his face. He then reached up a shaky hand and tapped Derek on the nose, “Bad Sourwolf, no getting clawed by crazy bitches.” He said before a yawn escaped from him.

With a mock growl Derek nuzzled along the side of Stiles’ neck before moving the teen to rest against one of the larger trees while he went about trying to find his cell phone, content that other than being tired Stiles was okay or at least as okay as he could be. While he and Cora looked, Stiles filled them all in on what had been happening in the crazy dream he’d been trapped in, leaving out the bit about Talia because he seriously had no idea what the hell was up with that, and about what he had learned about Ms Blake when Scott pushed himself up and looked at Stiles with a confused expression while Derek let out a deep growl before driving his fist through a tree.

“I’ll rip her throat out!” Derek howled in anger. Stiles’ heartbeat picked up at this leaving him feeling a little faint and he wouldn’t have been surprised to find himself sporting fangs right then as Derek moved onto another tree while Cora tried to talk him down. Stiles had never been so thankful for Scott in that moment when the other teen spoke up.

“I don’t know if everyone else felt it but it felt like I was going crazy while you were like that!” He exclaimed. Stiles paled a little when he realised that everyone was nodding their heads in agreement so he found himself slipping back to sarcasm because he had been left with the impression that the pack bonds wouldn’t be so strong while he was still human.

“Figured I’d share the crazy.” He said with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Yeah well Derek likes to stick his dick in crazy so I guess it works.” Scott whispered to him and Stills couldn’t help but laugh at the look on Peter’s face and the fact that he felt his own eyes flashing even though he himself was just amused.

“Do you forget you’re surrounded by wolves?” Peter asked Scott with a snort and a look that clearly said the teen was an idiot before the teen let out what Stiles considered a very manly yet terrified squeak as Derek looked over his shoulder at the two of them all red eyes and fangs.

“Scott…” He growled out before chasing Scott around for a few minutes. Stiles couldn’t deny that it helped ease the tension of finding out who the Darach was as well as dealing with the Alpha pack, or at least part of it, all in one day.

Once everything settled back down, the Sheriff had been called and updated on the situation, the others still at school had been checked on, even Jackson had been called though he’d been surprisingly short with them in the phone, and the mood turned serious again as everyone returned to the loft. No one was surprised to find Deaton waiting for them, what did surprise them was the fact that Ms Morrell was there with him. Something about her set everyone off and growling and Stiles merely raised a brow.

“You’ll have to forgive them Stiles but you’re recovering and my sister no doubt smells of the Alpha pack,” The vet explained, “She is their emissary.” He added when he noticed the confused look on the teen’s face.

“And you brought her here why?” Stiles asked failing to see the man’s logic in that and fixing the woman with a red glare of his own, though she merely gave him a small smile.

“I’m not here for Deucalion or Kali; they are no longer listening to my advice, I’m here on behalf of Ethan and Aiden.” She said with a small bow of her head to the alpha pair before repeating the gesture to the rest of the pack. At that bit of news the growling finally stopped, or at least returned to a level that Stiles couldn’t hear and he let out a tired sigh more than ready for the day to be over at that point.

Derek finally ushered everyone into the loft at the noise but he didn’t give anyone else his attention though until he made sure that his young mate was comfortable on the sofa. The alpha couldn’t help but be glad that Stiles wasn’t fighting the treatment in front of the pack as he wasn’t certain of how his wolf would take to it. If he hadn’t been through what he had though Stiles would have been protesting the treatment seven ways from Sunday but he knew he was in no shape so he merely accepted it, getting the feeling that it pleased Derek’s wolf, with a sigh before looking to the siblings.

“Why now?” Stiles asked simply when it was clear that Derek wasn’t exactly feeling vocal, then again no one could blame after finding out he’d slept with the Darach.

Hell Stiles was pretty sure even nature wasn’t upset at the trees that had been destroyed when Derek found out. Stiles was more than certain had the remains of the Hale house not already been destroyed by him, seriously he wasn’t taking blame for that because he had no idea what happened, Derek most likely would have destroyed it on his own. It had taken him almost passing out again and Scott’s inadvertent joke to get Derek to calm down enough that they could all make it back. But even chasing Scott around for half an hour after that only did so much and everyone could feel the simmering rage that Derek was trying to keep in.

“They had wanted to take you up on your offer of protection the moment you’d made it but at the time I advised against it,” Morrell explained, “This was a pack with an Alpha pair that was unmated, adding them into the mix even as outsiders could have torn this pack apart and then to add this Darach business on top of it…” She trailed off when Deaton held up a hand and looked towards Stiles.

“You’ve learned something.” He said motioning towards the teen. Stiles merely nodded and smirked a little.

“Hate to break it to you Ms Morrell but we apparently have all been failing in our duties, though I blame my epic failure on Captain McJudgybrows here,” He said nodding his head towards Derek and ignoring the growl he got from his mate at the new nickname, “The Darach has been in front of us the whole time, it’s Ms Blake.” This prompted another growl from Derek as the group filled the two emissaries in on everything that had happened that morning.

Both Deaton and Morrell looked gobsmacked for a long moment before Deaton got his usual ‘I now understand everything and may have more to add but I need more information first’ look on face. Stiles knew that look well and he hated it. It was a look that clearly said that he knew the teen was leaving something out of the story and that he needed that information to put everything together. Stiles glared at him for a moment from where he sat with Derek now plastered to his side but that only caused the vet to raise a brow at him.

“Jesus, fine! I may have neglected to mention that I had seen Talia Hale too,” He said pausing as he heard several gasps from around the room and felt Derek tense up next to him, that made him feel like all types of an asshole.

“You’ve never met her Stiles, how do you know it was her?” Scott piped up, bless his fluffy little head.

“I actually did meet her once, I think I was about eight maybe? And what she said makes so much more sense now and because Derek looks just like her,” He said glancing at Derek with a small smile before looking over to Peter and Cora, “Cora looks a lot like her too. Sorry to say it Creeperwolf but your sister got all the looks and awesome.” This got him a watery smile from Cora, a smirk from Peter and chuckles from everyone else, hell even Deaton smirked a little before Stiles told them exactly what happened in the dream as well as the time he’d actually met the woman.

_"Genim! Genim sweetie slow down!” Claudia yelled while racing after her son who was currently running down the path in the park, excited to be meeting up with Scott._

_The little boy of course should have been listening to his mother because the next thing he knew he tripped over something, most likely his own feet, and ended up falling down hard scrapping the palms of his hands badly trying to break his fall. When he tried to push himself up it caused him to whimper before he was suddenly being lifted by a lady who was smiling at him. She sat him up and took gentle hold of his hands and while he stared at her his hands didn’t hurt so much anymore._

_“You’re going to get in a lot of trouble running head first toward things like that, but I think you’ll do fine.” She said with the same sort of amused smile that his mom always had but he also was really, really, super really sure that he had just seen her eyes turn a little red._

_“Talia is that you?” He heard his mother call as she finally caught up to where he was._

_“Claudia, you didn’t tell me that little Genim here had grown so big,” She said, “Perhaps when he gets a little older he can come spend time running around with us.” Claudia got a look on her face that he’d seen on his dad’s when he knew his mom had made cookies and he was really excited about them but didn’t want to say he was excited._

_“Genim, why don’t you thank Mrs Hale and head on over to Scott before he gives himself an attack trying to make it to you.” His mother said smiling at him and nodding towards where he could see Scott and his mom a little ways in the distance._

_“Thank you Mrs Hale,” He said throwing his arms around the nice woman and hugging her tightly for a moment, “And I really like making friends.” He added with a toothy grin before running off leaving the two women to talk, in fact he didn’t even remember his hands hurt until it was time for his bath later that night._

When he’d finished the story Scott’s eyes lit up and he vaguely remembered at least seeing that take place and realised that he now knew what Talia looked like and then he seemed a little sad because it hammered home the point even more of all the Hale pack had lost.

“I remember that day, Talia had come home excited and kept going on about some kid in the park and how she was sure he was important.” Peter said speaking up with a wistful yet amused smirk on his face.

“Did she say anything else that you can recall?” Deaton asked raising a brow at the wolf but Peter merely shrugged and shook his head.

“This doesn’t explain now though. Why would he see an image of my mother?” Derek finally said after being quiet for so long. Deaton and Morrell exchanged looks at this for a moment before the vet spoke up again.

“I don’t believe that was an image, I think that very well may have been Talia, or at least a part of her,” The man supplied before Morrell chimed in as well.

“It’s been a theory that when the alpha spark passes from one to another in a family line at least that a part of the previous alpha remains,” She said ignoring the nose wrinkling that the thought got from Stile and the others.

“If you’re trying to tell me that part of psycho Uncle Bad-touch is locked inside my mate I’ll happily ask you to keep your thoughts to yourself,” Stiles snapped out. Just the thought that any of the insane alpha version of Peter remained was enough to set Stiles and the rest of the pack on edge.

“I don’t think that is the case because if you think any part of my sister remained and I was still able to do all that I did, than you’re crazier than I was.” Peter said suddenly, agreeing with Stiles which surprised the teen, but the man had a point, because she had seemed intent on protecting him and stopping the Darach from having access to him.

“Maybe it wasn’t my spark, but Stiles’,” Derek supplied as the comments bounced around for a few minutes and Stiles found himself wondering if his mate was reading his mind, “I’ve experienced nothing that would lead me to believe that it’s the alpha spark.” He added with a huff so he wasn’t surprised when Stiles looked at him with an expression that was a mixture of apology and regret before Derek picked him up and carried the teen up to his room.

\--------------

Once they were in the room and the door was shut Derek turned his red eyed gaze to Stiles’ own and the two were quiet for a long moment before Stiles eventually gave up the staring contest in favour of laying down on the bed and allowing himself to curl up into a ball. Derek wanted to growl at his mate, demand answers and despite the fact that the need for rest was practically radiating from the teen and the others were still waiting to go over other information, that’s exactly what he did, well at least the growling part.

“Why didn’t you tell me you saw her?” He growled out, his voice low and causing Stiles to curl in on himself even more which almost felt like a punch to the gut for Derek to see the teen pull away from him like that.

“Because I didn’t know why I did, I still don’t, in fact if I hadn’t thought that Deaton might be able to explain it, which he clearly couldn’t, I still wouldn’t have said anything,” Stiles snapped out, “So don’t try to get all pissed off with me because I don’t know why it happened, what caused it, if it will happen again… I just know without it I wouldn’t have been able to get through that, I wouldn’t have been able to wake up, to get back out, to…” His breathing started to become shorter and quickly turned into gasps.

“Stiles! Stiles calm down; I’m sorry, breathe with me baby…” Derek said quickly pulling Stiles up to press their foreheads together as he slowly got the teen to follow his breathing. After a few minutes of this the teen was smiling faintly at him causing Derek to raise a brow.

“You called me baby,” Stiles commented letting out a shaky giggle when Derek turned a little pink at this, “I liked it.” He added before allowing himself to be pulled against his mate’s firm chest as he sighed. “I really don’t know what caused that Derek and we should probably have saved this conversation for when I don’t feel like I’ve been hit by a truck and when we don’t have the whole pack downstairs, plus a rival pack’s emissary waiting for us.” He said fixing Derek with a glare.

“You’re right, I just,” Derek paused, “The thought that there might be a way to see them again, see any of them…” He trailed off.

“I get it Derek, believe me I do! Not quiet to the same degree but…” Stiles said with a shrug. Derek felt a little like a dumb ass at this because it was times like these that he finally remembered that Stiles had lost his own mother. “I think you might be right though because it seemed like she was trying to protect me or at least show me how to protect myself from the Darach,” Stiles supplied, “And if she was able to access my spark, who’s to say she wasn’t accessing yours before we became mates.” He added with a shudder at the thought.

“And who’s to say she isn’t accessing Deucalion’s?” Derek mused back which caused Stiles to shoot him a worried look but the alpha didn’t seem like he was planning to expand on that thought just yet.

“So what do you want to do about the twins?” Stiles finally asked because if they were in danger than the twins were probably even more so for helping them. Derek sighed for a moment because he really didn’t want to think about it but with everything that was going on there really wasn’t much choice.

“They warned you, they warned the pups, both times, they didn’t have to and yet they keep sticking their necks out for our pack.” Derek finally huffed out.

“I did see the one, Ethan I think, sniffing around Danny; he may just be doing it because he knows Danny is close to our pack.” Stiles supplied not really thinking that was the case but attempting to play devil’s advocate. He was happy to see Derek shake his head at this though.

“I know what you’re doing Stiles, but I’m with you, I don’t think that’s the case. They are worried about the Darach and they clearly don’t agree with whatever the hell Deucalion is cooking up, so while I can’t admit them to the pack fully,” At this, Stiles raised a brow and Derek’s brow furrowed in response, “They are both alphas Stiles, I can’t have them in the pack like that.” Derek explained and Stiles merely sighed and nodded his head.

“Is there a way they could not be alphas anymore?” Stiles wondered.

“Short of killing them or them passing it down a family line I don’t know of any, besides we have more important things to worry about,” At this Stiles’ brows went up again, “Like Lydia for example, Peter clearly knows something, there had to be more to him choosing her for that ritual and you and I both know that,” This time Stiles merely nodded, “We’ll tell Morrell that we will work with the twins and protect them if they need it but until we can find another solution they won’t be able to join us fully.” Derek finally said, his eyes flashing brightly as his decision was made and Stiles’ flashed in response.

“God I love it when you go all alpha,” the teen whispered out, “When I feel less like death we’re going to repeat the other night, in many different positions.” He said before yawning again. Derek merely chuckled at his mate before nuzzling along his neck for a moment.

“Get some sleep Stiles,” Derek said before moving out from behind the teen and pulling the blankets up over him.

Stiles wanted to say something else but the thought was lost as he finally drifted off back to sleep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	9. I Fell Heavy into Your Arms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles wakes up to a surprise and an interesting exchange. What he really wants though is to stop blacking out at really awkward times.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delay with this chapter but I blame finals, a cold and a new work schedule for it! Anyway I hope everyone enjoys the apology smut! Chapter title is from Mumford and Sons: "I Will Wait".

When Stiles finally woke it didn’t take him long to let out a surprised yell as he came face to face with none other than Jackson Whittmore. The blonde smirked at him as he flailed around before falling out of the bed, landing on his ass and pointing an accusing finger Jackson, who had been laying there staring at him.

“The hell Jackson?! Are you trying to scare me to death? What are you doing here anyway?” Stiles rambled out quickly before his stomach cramped up a little. “And why the hell am I so hungry?”

“Yes, you told Derek you wanted me back here and you’ve been sleeping for three days,” Jackson shot back with a smirk before Stiles smacked him with one of the pillows when he finally got back up.

The two of them had been on better terms before Jackson’s family had packed everything up and fled to London. It had taken the promise of finally explaining everything to them as well as a beauty of a temper tantrum to get them to agree to allow him to return to Beacon Hills. In the end though Jackson was pretty sure that the only reason they agreed was because they didn’t know what the hell to make of the werewolf thing and really didn’t want to be involved in it, he supposed he couldn’t really blame them. Stiles nodded slowly as he picked at the bagel that Jackson had provided while the blonde explained everything.

“Derek and Scott filled me in on everything that Lydia hadn’t yet and I’m not gonna lie Stilinski, this is beyond fucked up,” he said seriously with a frown marring his features.

“Tell me about it,” Stiles said with a snort. “I’m going to guess Derek knows you’re in here and that’s why he didn’t come tearing into the room when I yelled?” He asked and Jackson nodded.

“He said something about me needing time alone with you to adjust to your new position in the pack or something like that, be damned if I know what the hell he was talking about,” he muttered out but Stiles nodded in understanding.

“Words still aren’t exactly Sourwolf’s strong suite.” he said with a chuckle as the two of them heard a growl carry up the stairs. “Everyone else gone?”

“Yeah they’re all in class, the school is still getting my shit together so I don’t start back until next week,” Jackson grumbled out.

The two talked for a while longer and Stiles was honestly surprised by how easy he found it to get along with the other teen that he had once thought to be his “love” rival. He assumed it was because of the pack bonds but he wasn’t going to dig at it too much. Eventually though Jackson headed down to let Stiles make himself feel a little more like a person again.

“Do I even want to know why I was out for three days?” He asked as he flopped down on the couch next to Derek, finally feeling a little more like himself after a much needed trip to the bathroom and shower. “And for the love of everything good, please tell me someone let my Dad know!” He added.

“Deaton said you’d sleep until your energy was stable again,” Derek explained as he curled himself around Stiles seeming not to care that Jackson was staring at them. “I called your Dad and told him what was going on; he stopped by a few times to check on you.”

“Good, that’s at least one nightmare I won’t have to deal with,” he noticed that Derek had gone oddly still as he had spoken and he pulled back a bit to raise a brow at him. “What?”

“Your Dad and I were talking and…” Derek started but Stiles held up a hand already pretty sure he knew where this was going.

“Nope, nah, no way, and every other way there is to say no. I’m not going to not go to school just so I can avoid Ms Blake,” he said fixing the older man with a look that caused Jackson to snort.

“Glad to see not too much has changed, Stilinski still has no sense of self preservation,” he chimed in with a shake of his head before he walked into the kitchen. Derek growled at this but said nothing to the blonde about his comment.

“She already latched on to you once and until you’re turned we don’t know if she’ll be able to do it again,” Derek grumbled out.

“Seriously? That’s the argument you and Dad are going with?” He asked with a raised brow. “We don’t know if she’d be able to do it even after I was turned either,” he pointed out which caused Derek to wince a bit. “Honestly I’m more interested in that tree, stump thing that I saw.”

“Deaton said you might be, he suggested trying to meditate or something to see if you could recall more details,” the alpha huffed out knowing there was no point in arguing with Stiles right then because his attention was clearly focused elsewhere.

Derek assumed that Stiles would be off and running with that bit of information so he was a little surprised when the teen merely nodded before snuggling down into the hold he had him wrapped in. Stiles must have noticed something in his face because he smirked at him.

“I’ll be happy to get to that later but come on I’ve been sleeping for three days and I’m in need of some serious Sourwolf time!” He exclaimed which finally got a snort from Derek and a gagging sound from Jackson in the kitchen. “You may want to go find something to do Jackson,” he said as he noticed the faint hint of red in Derek’s eyes.

“God, only back for two days and they’re already exposing me to this shit,” Jackson grumbled with a smirk firmly in place as he headed out of the loft, locking the door behind him.

As soon as he was gone Derek had Stiles in his arms as he headed back up the stairs to the bedroom. Stiles couldn’t say he was happy to be in bed again but the reason for being there this time was an exception he would happily make. He also found himself really glad that it was Derek’s clothes he was wearing right then as they were ripped off of him before Derek buried his face in the crook of Stiles’ neck.

“I almost went feral when you wouldn’t wake up,” Derek mumbled out causing Stiles to go wide eyed. He reached for the man’s face and pulled it so he could look at him more clearly.

“What the hell happened?” He asked finally feeling alarmed over the fact that he’d been out as long as he had.

“After the first few hours the bond started to feel weak, it felt like you were dying, I panicked,” Derek explained with a whine in his voice and Stiles let out a wounded sort of sound before he locked Derek’s lips with his own for a moment. “I probably would have attacked someone if Scott hadn’t called Deaton so he could explain,” he finished looking a little sheepish.

“Good ol’ Scotty huh?” Stiles asked with an amused tone before he turned serious again. “It will take more than that crazy bitch to get rid of me Sourwolf, you’re stuck with me, and that’s that,” he said with a nod of his head. “I’ll start working with Deaton more now that we know what’s going on with me,” he added hoping that would put the man at ease at least a little.

“That’s all I’m asking,” Derek said kissing Stiles like he thought he would never see the teen again.

Stiles moaned and arched into the kiss as he felt everything else slip away from him. It went from frantic to a slow and lazy circling of tongues that Stiles was sure blew every other kiss they shared right out of the water. They didn’t even part when air became needed, it wasn’t until Derek finally pulled back to remove his shirt that they broke away from each other. As soon as the cumbersome clothing was gone though they were right back against one another, panting into each other’s mouths as Derek rolled their hips together for a few moments before he nipped at Stiles’ lips.

“Roll over for me,” Derek rumbled out, his red eyes causing Stiles’ to shine in response and making the rumble in his chest louder, as he took in the pleasing sight that his mate made.

Stiles groaned at the request but did as asked before tiny moans started to escape from him as Derek started to run his tongue slowly down his back. The wolf was trying to memorise every single scent and taste that he could pick up on from his mate. The scent of the soap from his shower, the smell of home, of pack that constantly clung to his skin, and the spicy/sweet scent of his arousal, that was slowly starting to pour off him. Derek licked along Stiles’ shoulder blades and enjoyed the shiver it sent through his mate before he followed the teen’s spine with is tongue, lapping over each little bump of vertebrae before placing a teasing bite right on his tail-bone.

Stiles jumped at this but it was quickly followed by a moan before he felt the stubble of Derek’s chin dragging down his right ass cheek, leaving a little stinging sensation in his wake. A shuddering sigh escaped from him as the feeling was repeated on the left side before little nips were placed there as well. Stiles didn’t even need to be told to get up onto his knees as this point and when his ass was in the air and presented to the other man, he didn’t even have time to think about how silly it might look before Derek’s strong hands were spreading him open making him gasp out in surprise at the feeling of the alpha’s hot breath gusting over his clenched hole. There was no stopping the whimper that escaped from him as Stiles finally felt the warm, wet heat of Derek’s tongue as he licked at him. Every muscle in Stiles body was tense, wound tight like a spring and it just made the feelings Derek was causing to be that much more intense.

“Missed this, your scent…” Derek panted out while scrapping his stubble along Stiles’ ass again. “Your taste… God Stiles…” Stiles couldn’t even form a verbal response as Derek’s tongue circled around his hole again before pressing the tip in quickly a few times.

He was more than certain that Derek was trying to drive him crazy. Having hoped for this and stretching himself a bit in a shower, the short quick stabs started to loosen Stiles up more before they become longer and he could feel the slick muscle wiggle a little each time Derek darted it back in. Stiles arched his back more and moaned loudly as he pushed himself back onto Derek’s tongue for a moment before the man growled and a firm hand came up to press him down, so that his chest was pressed down onto his forearms and he could no longer thrust back like he so desperately wanted to. The teen let out a needy whine as Derek continued to thrust his tongue in and out, indulging himself in the scent and taste of his mate. A pleased rumble continued to sound in his chest as he felt Stiles loosen even more. He knew the moment he’d started that Stiles had stretched himself a bit but he was in no hurry and the sounds that Stiles was making were urging him to continue with his ministrations even as his own dick throbbed painfully from being ignored.

“Please, Derek, fuck me, please…” Stiles whined out, his voice coming out in broken pants. Derek didn’t respond though, he merely thrust his tongue in faster for a few more moments before finally pulling away from the teen to grab the lube from the night stand. He coated his fingers before slipping two of them easily into the twitching hole. When Stiles attempted to push back again as Derek thrust them in and out a few times scissoring as he went, the alpha pinned him again before arching up over the teen’s back.

“So greedy for me,” he growled lowly as he slipped a third finger in. “You should see the way you pull my fingers in,” he said as he continued to thrust his fingers, causing needy, desperate moans to escape from Stiles as he found the teen’s prostate again. “Next time I’ll make you watch,” he panted out before running his tongue along the shell of Stiles’ ear.

Stiles honestly didn’t think he could be any harder than he had been before Derek had started talking and now he wasn’t even sure he’d be able to keep himself from coming before the other man was inside him. Every thrust of Derek’s thick fingers brushed lightly over his prostate causing him to cry out in need but the way Derek had him pinned kept him from touching his own dick. He knew he was a mess, tears leaking from his eyes, hell even a little drool running down his chin as his body was overloaded by the sensations Derek was inflicting on him and his lower half covered in his own pre-come that continued to leak from his neglected cock but despite all of that he still wanted more.

“Can you take another?” Derek asked, though he came out more of a growl.

“Please!” Stiles cried out before he began to babel and whine incoherently for a moment as the fingers left him.

He hissed out at the sudden chill when they returned with more lube and he mewled out in pained pleasure as he felt the stretch and burn as Derek finally slipped a fourth in. Stiles could feel the muscles in his legs start to shake, as well as the familiar tightening in his belly as Derek curled his fingers, rubbing along his prostate again.

“Fuck! I need to come!” Stiles screamed out in between pants.

“You will, just like this,” Derek growled back, as he continued his assault on the teen. “Then I’m going to fuck you, get you hard again and just before you come a second time, I’m going to knot you,” He said before biting at Stiles’ shoulder which was finally enough to push the teen over edge.

Stiles body locked up on him, his ass clamping down on Derek’s wicked fingers as his orgasm finally ripped through him causing him to cry out as his vision blurred, his body shaking from the force of it, leaving him pliant and panting. The bed and his stomach covered in his release. He whined a bit as Derek finally removed his fingers but it was quickly replaced by a moan as Derek eased into him, enjoying the feeling of his mate inside him.

Derek almost howled at the feeling of Stiles wrapped around his dick but he managed to contain himself at the last moment so he could fully enjoy the little moans and grunts that escaped the teen as he slowly started to thrust into him with long slow rolls of his hips. Derek couldn’t think of anything to compare the feeling of being buried in Stiles to. There was nothing. Nothing felt as good or as right as thrusting deep into him. Derek leaned forward, snaking an arm around Stiles’ waist to stroke at his softened cock as he angled his hips, the combination of Derek’s thrust and his hand, causing Stiles’ hips to jerk forward as he mewled out at the sensation.

His legs felt weak and even though his dick seemed to slowly be interested in what was happening again, he didn’t know if his legs could take it but Derek seemed to sense that in him as he suddenly pulled out, causing the teen to whimper at the loss, before he laid Stiles down on his side, spooning up behind him. Derek lifted Stiles’ leg a bit to give himself room before he slipped back into him again causing both of them to moan at being connected once more.

Stiles, still riding high after his first orgasm moaned loudly, tilted his head back and offered his neck. Derek rumbled deeply in his chest, nosing along the side of Stiles’ neck before licking at the mark there as he wrapped an arm around the teen’s waist again, his hand sliding up to tease Stiles’ nipples causing him to moan and push back into Derek’s slow thrusting. He couldn’t help but think that if sex with Derek was going to be like this every time, he was pretty sure it was going to kill him, but what a way to go. He must have said some of that out loud because the pace of the thrusts picked up a bit as Derek nipped, none too gently at his shoulder before his hand slipped down and wrapped around Stiles’ semi.

“Just wait,” Derek panted into his ear. “When you’re turned, I’ll knot you good, fill you up with my come, breed you like a proper bitch,” he growled as he started to jerk Stiles back to full hardness.

The teen wasn’t exactly sure why that had sounded amazing because there was no way in hell he was ready to even think about children, let alone the mechanics of what Derek was suggesting, but every growled out word went right to his aching dick and he was a little surprised by the words that tumbled out of him.

“God yes, want that, want that so bad, want you to breed me until I’m full of your pups,” he whimpered back as Derek’s hips started to thrust with a speed that should have been impossible at that angle, which had him already teetering on the edge again.

“Fuck Stiles,” Derek ground out as he continued to thrust wildly as his knot slowly started to appear, the bulge slamming against his mate’s already abused rim repeatedly until it finally pressed past the ring muscle.

At the feeling of Derek’s knot filling him up again and the small thrusts he continued, which put constant pressure on his prostate, Stiles came again with howl that probably would have given any wolf a run for their money. It was quickly joined by a howl from Derek as Stiles’ ass clamped down on his knot. He continued his shallow thrusts as Stiles milked him of all he had. He reached up tilting the teen’s head back so he could lick into his mouth as the two of them panted and he continued to empty himself into his mate.

Little licks, bites and kisses continued to be exchanged as they slowly came down from their high. Derek held Stiles wrapped up him his arms, the teen trailing his fingers lightly down his forearms as they waited for the knot to go down. When it finally did and Derek eased himself out of Stiles a small moan escaped the teen as he was rolled back onto his knees once again and he felt some of Derek’s come working its way down his thighs. The moan became louder when he felt fingers sliding up through it before they were pressing into him again and he whimpered when they found his prostate once more.

“Derek, I can’t, it’s too much,” he whined even as his dick gave yet another interested twitch. He wasn’t sure if he was surprised, aroused or annoyed when the only answer he received was a growl.

“Mine,” Stiles managed a quick glance over his shoulder only to find that while Derek may or may not have been present; his wolf was in the driver’s seat.

The teen gasped softly as the wolf removed his fingers and reached around to smear their come together, rubbing it into the soft skin of Stiles’ stomach. As the alpha’s eyes flashed brightly Stiles felt a flash of want flow through him and despite how exhausted he had been he felt a surge of energy and knew it had to be being fed through the bond. He didn’t have time to think about it though as he was suddenly rolled before crying out as he found himself impaled on Derek’s dick once again, feeling beyond full at this point with the amount of come that was already pressing against his insides as the wolf fucked up into him.

Every cry and moan the thrusts drug from him got him a frantic snarl from the wolf below him. Stiles’ dick bounced hard and heavy, coming up to slap against his stomach with each thrust and the pressure was getting to be almost too much. Claws bit into his hips as the thrusts picked up speed and a cry was ripped out of him as he felt teeth raking down his back for a moment before he was pulled out of and pushed back onto his hands and knees once more. Stiles couldn’t help but scream, sob and moan in a mixture of pleasure and agony as Derek’s knot made itself known again, this time slipping into him easily. He griped the sheets so hard that he was sure he could hear them tearing a bit before a choked cry escaped him when a clawed hand wrapped around his sore dick.

There weren’t many of the short jerky tugs needed before Stiles came again, screaming himself hoarse before the wolf gave a short howl before clamping his teeth down on the back of the teen’s neck holding him in place as he was filled yet again with hot come. When his neck was finally released, Stiles was sure he would collapse face first onto the bed so he was a little surprised when he was moved onto his side again with very little pulling on the knot as Derek spooned up behind him again, a hand coming to rub over his lower abdomen that was now slightly distended.

“Stiles…” he heard Derek finally say, the man’s voice rough.

“I swear to everything if you try to apologise for any of that I’ll convince Deaton to neuter you,” he said, his voice sounding just as wrecked as he felt right then.

Stiles didn’t need an explanation, not really he understood. Derek’s wolf had been just as panicked as the man himself had been. He was relieved when Derek said nothing else; instead the two finally gave into the urge and drifted off to sleep.

\----------------

When he woke again it was to the feeling of warm water and Stiles opened a sleepy eye to find Derek gently wiping him down in the tub. He gave his mate a sleepy smile before the man tilted him forward to wash his back. A small hiss escaped from him as Derek cleaned the shallow cuts he had made but Stiles really wasn’t about to complain.Everything continued on in silence for a long while until Derek lifted him up out of the tub and dried him off with a fluffy towel before leaving him sitting in the bathroom for a few minutes. Unlike last time Stiles could feel an ache in his ass but again he wasn’t about to complain.

He wasn’t alone for long before Derek reappeared and carried him back into the bedroom and laid him down on clean sheets. Despite the fact that he hadn’t said anything since he attempted to apologise before they fell asleep, Stiles could clearly pick up on guilt in every single move that Derek made.

“Just for the record, I was completely on board with whatever the hell that was,” he said as he tugged at Derek’s hand to get the man to lay with him.

“I could have hurt you, I did hurt you!” Derek grumbled out before carefully pulling Stiles tight against him.

“A little, but it’s not something that I won’t heal from,” the teen said with a shrug.

“I should have had more control than that, you’re still human,” the wolf grumped which merely caused Stiles to sigh.

“True that freaked me out a little bit because I seriously started to think that death by orgasm was how I was going to go out, but I’m fine. Yeah your wolf got a little rough but like I said, I’ll heal and we both know that,” he said before leaning forward and placing a quick kiss to Derek’s lips in hopes of chasing the frown away.

The two didn’t say anything else for a long while until Derek finally pulled away and sat up as he heard the door open downstairs. Stiles continued to lay there for a little while until Derek placed a fresh set of clothes at the end of the bed.

“I’m going to take everyone out for training,” He started and Stiles carefully got out of bed, no longer feeling any sort of shyness about his body before he leaned to kiss Derek’s cheek.

“Go, I’ll be fine, I’ll try the whole meditation thing and if I have any luck I’ll let you know,” he said hoping that training would help Derek calm down.

Being mindful of his still healing back Stiles waited until he heard everyone leave again, taking note that Peter was still downstairs. The teen almost snorted as he finally dressed realising that there was no way in hell that Derek would leave him completely alone, even if it meant leaving Peter. He sat himself in the middle of the bed and closed his eyes.

 _He slowly started to recall the exchange with the Darach and for once he was pleased to find that thinking about it wasn’t making his head feel like it was about to go all_ Scanners _on him._

_“That’s because you severed the connection,” a voice explained. Stiles whipped around to find Talia Hale standing there once again smiling at him._

_“Not that I’m not beyond grateful for the help, but how the hell are you here exactly?” Stiles said quickly. Talia merely smiled at him for a moment._

_“I’m here because you are the magic user for the pack, just as I was,” the surprise must have shown on Stiles’ face because she was soon chuckling at him. “Anyone in a pack can hold multiple roles, just as you do,” she explained. “I’m here because without being a wolf himself there is only so much Deaton can teach you now that you are no longer going to be a human emissary.”_

_“So you’re going to be my own personal Yoda?” He asked wide eyed._

_He was surprised when the woman laughed and nodded her head. In that moment Talia Hale went up about twenty kick ass points in Stiles’ book for even knowing what the hell he was talking about._

\----------------

No one really questioned what the hell had crawled up Derek’s ass and died while they were training because it was already brutal enough without anyone provoking him. The alpha reeked of Stiles and they all assumed that would be a good thing but clearly something else had happened that had set him off and they all winced as he launched Scott up into a tree for even attempting to ask what was bothering him. The group barely had time to register Derek taking off after that but they were quickly on his heels and found him staring down the twins not too far from where they had been training.

They were surprised to see Ethan supporting a bleeding Aiden and even more surprised when Derek issued no threats or demands, instead he just moved to help support the other alpha. When they got the two of them back to the loft the air was thick, smelling heavily of ozone. Derek shot Peter a questioning look and the older wolf merely shrugged.

“It’s been like this all afternoon, I checked on him but he hasn’t moved, I can only assume that he is practising,” he said simply before his eyes narrowed at the twins. Everyone watched in shock as Peter stood from the couch and moved so that he was now blocking the stairs. “Any particular reason they are here? To my understanding offering them protection does not mean we are required to allow them into our den,” he growled, his eyes flashing as he spoke.

None of the others would admit it out loud for fear of facing Derek’s wrath, that was clearly already running high, but they hadn’t been too keen on taking the twins back to the loft either, not while Stiles was still recovering anyway. Derek’s eyebrows went up somewhere near his hairline as he heard grumbling growls of agreement before he answered them with a growl of his own.

“They have a place with us, even if they aren’t pack yet,” he snapped out, growling until everyone else quieted down again, not even noticing his slip. The rest of the pack did notice though and were pleased to find that Derek was taking Stiles’ suggestion of adding them seriously. “What happened?”

Ethan looked up from where he was helping Aiden attempt to get comfortable near the window and shifted a little under the intense gaze from the pack surrounding them. He’d forgotten what it was like to be part of a fully functioning pack, even one as bad as the one they had belonged to was better than the “pack” they found themselves stuck with now. True as alphas they should have been able to leave but there really was no getting away from Deucalion.

“Kali figured out that we’ve been helping you,” he said with a sigh.

“Deucalion still doesn’t know?” Derek asked with a raised brow.

“If he knew, we’d probably both be dead,” Ethan said with a shake of his head.

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that if I were you, he’s always been much more aware of what’s going on around him than most,” Peter spoke up from where he was now seated on the stairs, Scott now hovering not too far from them as well.

“He’s right,” Aiden gasped. “Deucalion knows or he’s figuring it out,” he wheezed. “I think Kali was trying to drive us away, would be dead…” he trailed off as talking clearly pained him.

“I thought these asshats were alphas, so why isn’t he healed yet?” Jackson asked nodding towards the twins who glared at him.

“Wounds from another alpha still take a more time to heal,” Derek grunted out with a roll of his eyes.

“We’ve never seen him before,” Ethan said nodding towards the blond.

“I’m part of the away team,” Jackson said with a snort, while his blue eyes flashed at the intruding alpha.

None of the pack was really all that surprised when the comment ended in a fist bump between Jackson and Scott, the two seeming to get along better now that they both were more comfortable with themselves and what they had become. Everyone was more than sure that they would continue to butt heads from time to time but at least there hadn’t been any pissing contests yet. What really surprised the rest of the pack was the fact that Erica, Boyd and Cora didn’t seem to mind the other two alphas being there or if they did they weren’t saying. Derek had been watching the three of them but none of them made so much as a twitch in their direction.

“Are you three all right?” He asked moving over to where they stood. The three seemed surprised he was asking.

“Despite the fact that they had me longer I never really dealt with the two of them,” Cora said with a shrug. She’d seen one of them from time to time when food was brought but that was it.

“Aiden saved Erica,” Boyd said which silenced everyone.

“We didn’t think you remembered that,” Ethan said as he helped Aiden sit up finally.

“What happened?” Derek asked clenching his jaw as this was new information to him. The three hadn’t said much about the time they had been held by the Alpha pack, at least to him anyway, but Derek could only assume that it had been bad because when they’d first found them they had thought Erica was dead.

“Kali kicked my ass is what happened, she thought it would be funny to see what you would do if you found one of your pack dead,” Erica said quickly, her voice containing a hint of a growl.

“I stopped her before she could finish the job,” Aiden mumbled out. “It’s not a good feeling to loose pack, even if you don’t care for them all that much,” he finished with a sigh.

“I didn’t kill Ennis,” Derek growled out and surprisingly the twins shrugged.

“We know, Duke did,” Ethan said flatly and the statement surprised everyone.

“What part of killing your own pack seems like a good idea?” Isaac piped up from where he was sitting next to Allison.

“It’s about power and with Duke anything that gets him more power is worth it,” Ethan explained, the pack being nice enough not to comment on the fact that the twins had clearly done it themselves. “He’s been different since we came here though, more focused, but he doesn’t make sense half of the time and sometimes it’s like he’s not even there,” he added.

Derek and Peter exchanged looks at the information that was given. A silent communication of whether or not there was actually more going on than there seemed to be and Derek couldn’t help but think back to the conversation he and Stiles had a few days before as well as the conversation they had earlier.

“You know if you just tell us what’s on your mind now it will save tons of guesswork and screaming later,” Lydia said fixing Derek with a glare. True, she was pack but she clearly had no fear of him and while Derek supposed it was because if you’ve been attacked by one alpha and lived the rest don’t seem as scary, he was actually glad for it. He knew he needed someone besides Stiles that would call him out on things, especially someone who wasn’t Scott because that never ended well between the two of them.

“We know that the Darach was filtering energy from Stiles’ spark and we think mine as well,” everyone but Ethan and Aiden nodded at this. “What if we weren’t her real target?”

“I’d say it’s entirely possible since she only turned up a little time after we got word of the Alpha pack heading here,” Peter said tapping his chin as he thought. “And Tweedles Dee and Dum over there were so helpful as to inform Stiles of this, we may be dealing with a pissed off former emissary with a grudge,” he added shooting a raised brow towards the twins who growled at the new nicknames.

Scott, Jackson and Isaac didn’t even bother to contain their snickering at the exchange. Allison and Lydia merely rolled their eyes while the others continued to look indifferent though Erica did look a little like she wanted to giggle.

“If she was part of anyone’s pack it would have to be Kali’s because she was the only one with a female emissary,” Ethan supplied.

“Then it would make sense right? For her to attack Deucalion I mean,” Scott said shifting a bit where he stood making himself look like an excited puppy.

“It could also explain why Kali hasn’t been attacked yet,” Peter mused before shrugging his shoulders. Peter suddenly let out a startled yelp when some sort of force suddenly slammed into him from behind sending him flying into Jackson and Scott. Everyone turned with wide eyes to see a smirking Stiles coming down the stairs.

“Compliments of Talia, something about you deserving it because you’re an egotistical asshole who could give Deucalion a run for his money with your dickish tendencies,” Stiles said with a shrug of his shoulders.

No one aside from Derek or Cora could really understand the dopey little smile that made its way onto Peter’s face.

“Now if you’ll all excuse me I’m pretty sure I’m going to pass out now because crash courses suck,” Stiles mumbled before falling forward into Derek’s waiting arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I know where this is going and it makes me hurt... *le sigh*
> 
> Anyway feel free to find me on tumblr!
> 
> But here are some new Stereky gifs to enjoy!  
> [Rainy Sterek](http://thextinamonster.tumblr.com/post/87179227080/dont-make-me-sad-dont-make-me-cry-sometimes)  
> [Sick!Stiles Sterek](http://thextinamonster.tumblr.com/post/87179514595/thextinamonster-and-there-will-come-a-time)


	10. Ghosts That We Knew

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Story time for the pack as they find out just what Stiles was up to while there were out watching Scott get tossed into trees, sadly though the good vibes don't last as things get slightly more complicated as time starts to run out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay everyone, finals, hospitals and lack of net... oh my! Not to mention this chapter fought me every step of the way... writer's block... yay! Disclaimers in previous chapters and title is from Mumford and Sons as always.

“Should we be worried that he keeps doing that?” Stiles could hear Lydia asking as he slowly started to come round again. If it didn’t feel like someone was playing bongos with his brain he probably would have laughed at the way that his former crush managed to sound worried and annoyed all at the same time.

Before anyone could answer her question though Stiles sat up and let out a small groan that was equal parts pain and annoyance before running a hand through his hair and scratching the back of his head. He then went on the offensive as all the girls quickly surrounded him trying to check and see if he was okay. It wasn’t until they were pushed back a bit by whatever the hell was suddenly surrounding Stiles that they stopped and looked at the other teen quizzically.

“Stiles, what the hell man?” Scott asked, a whine ringing loud and clear in his voice as he attempted to get close to his friend.

“Kind of cool huh?” Stiles asked with a smirk before stretching. “Hopefully that’s the last damn time I pass out, it’s getting really annoying,” he huffed before forcing away the barrier around himself completely and jumping a little when Scott landed right on top of him. “Get off me you fat ass!” He snarked at his friend while shoving playfully at his shoulder, knowing it would have no effect on the other but not really caring. The two were startled a bit when Scott was suddenly lifted off of him and Derek was looking him over.

The pack chuckled a bit at the bitch-face that Stiles was sporting but he didn’t say anything to stop the man either as he clearly still felt guilty over what had happened earlier, which made no sort of sense to Stiles at all, but Derek was prone to feeling guilty about everything and the teen realise a while ago that he would have to pick and choose his battles when it came to that.

“You seem different,” Ethan spoke up from where he and Aiden were still seated, which drew everyone’s attention back to them for a moment.

“Yeah like I said, crash course,” Stiles said flashing the two of them a grin, because he was sure that no one else was really attempting to make them feel welcome, before his look turned serious again. “I’m going to guess them being here means things aren’t going so well?” He asked turning his attention back to Derek who merely shook his head before quickly explaining what had been discussed before Stiles joined them all.

Stiles was quiet for a long while after Derek finished talking and the quiet seemed to unnerve everyone a bit, almost as much as hearing Derek actually talk, the pack still not quite being used to it, and it just completely freaked Jackson the hell out.

“This quiet thing, I don’t like it,” the blonde stage whispered to Lydia who merely snorted at him.

“If you think that’s creepy you should see him when his eyes turn red,” she said in a solemn tone which caused Jackson to make some sort of alarmed noise, that sort of sounded like a cat getting its tail stepped on, that everyone chuckled at.

“I didn’t think you were serious about that shit McCall!” He yelled which merely caused Scott to give him the confused puppy look.

“Don’t know why I would lie about that,” he said simply with a shrug of his shoulders. The group then started to bicker amongst themselves until Derek shut them all up with a sudden growl again.

“What happened Stiles?” He finally asked once everyone was quiet again.

“Well for starters I found out that I was seeing your mom because of my place in the pack, if that helps at all,” he started slowly. “There seemed to be a lot to it,” he explained, not even seeming the least bit concerned that the twins were there listening to all of this as well and Derek really didn’t know how he felt about it.

_________________

_It was after the two stopped laughing over the Yoda comment, that Stiles noticed the sad look on Talia’s face. Despite the fact that he’d only met her that one time and that he was pretty sure this wasn’t really her he was seeing now, Stiles knew he didn’t like seeing a frown mar her features. It also didn’t help that he was of the firm belief that mom’s should never frown, it made things in his brain go sideways._

_“I’m sure I’m not your first choice or anything…” He trailed off when a very red eyed Talia suddenly glared at him._

_“Never think that!” She said suddenly and Stiles held up his hands in surrender like he often caught himself doing with Derek. “I am simply lamenting the fact that I have little time to teach you what you need to know and that I’m not there to teach you in person,” she explained before her look finally turned soft again as she reached out to him and wrapped him up in a hug. “You were my first choice from the moment I saw you in the park, I couldn’t think of anyone better to balance my son out,” she said, the affection warming Stiles to his core as he returned the hug._

_There was never anything better than mom hugs and it was one of the reasons he supposed he was so touchy with the pack even though he wasn’t actually a mother or even a parent, he figured it was all in the amount of affection you put in to it. Stiles found himself a little saddened at what she said about Derek though and couldn’t help but wonder if Derek would have needed him at all had the fire never happened._

_“Derek was always so serious after what happened with Paige,” she said as if reading his mind. “You bring him out of himself, stand up to him when he’s being stubborn and make him a better leader in doing so, especially when you make him talk,” she added with a smile._

_“We can’t all be fluent in eyebrow. Do I even want to know how you knew what I was thinking about?” He asked with a dry laugh._

_“We’re in your mind little Genim, your thoughts are open to me,” she said with a wink._

_“For being in my head you seem so…” he trailed off looking for the right word._

_“Alive?” She prompted and Stiles nodded at this. “Alan and his sister weren’t completely off base in their theory, a part of me remained but not in the Alpha spark as they had assumed, it remained within the power of the pack itself to teach those that come after if no one living is able to. I just haven’t been able to speak with you until now because the pack was so fractured,” she explained._

_“And you said that because Deaton’s not a wolf, there were things he couldn’t show me, makes sense I guess, very werewolfy version of the Force, going to be hell explaining it to Sourwolf though,” he paused when the woman broke into laughter at this._

_“He does seem quite sour sometimes doesn’t he?” She asked with a grin which Stiles returned for a moment before he turned serious again._

_“He blames himself for everything,” he muttered out before he could stop himself and he felt a little like an ass as soon as he had said it._

_“I know and I ask you to please remind him that none of it was his fault,” she said her look one of pain. “Cora as well, I’m glad to know that she is safe.”_

_“I’ll keep on trying to get that through to him and I think Cora will be all right,” he promised with a nod of his head before something in the distance caught his eye. “That shiny thing would be what exactly?” He then quietly cursed his ADHD for dragging him off topic so soon._

_“That would be the wall you managed to form in your mind when you severed the connection with the Darach, I don’t believe you’ll have anything more to fear from her, at least on that end, what we need to work on is your ability to control your barriers,” she said taking the change of subject in stride._

_“And those wonderful little power surges huh?” Stiles asked his tone turning glum at the thought of how much effort it was all going to take. He didn’t mind effort when it came to research or getting Derek to use his words, but this was all starting to seem a little overwhelming._

_“Those “surges” are actually barriers that you’ve lost control over,” Talia explained which caused Stiles to look at her in shock. “Think of the times they have happened. They’ve all been when you’ve been trying to keep something away correct?”_

_Stiles thought for a long moment and realised that Talia, or sort of Talia, whatever, was actually right. When he hadn’t wanted anyone near him after seeing Derek and Ms Blake together, when he’d been trying to keep Derek away from him the night they’d completed the bond and when he’d been trying to keep Deucalion away from him so that Derek could attack Kali without worrying about him. He was sure there had been others but they were the largest he could recall._

_“So that’s what I’m working with?” He asked suddenly feeling rather bummed out about his power. Talia merely chuckled at him._

_“As an emissary your job would have been to mediate for the pack when dealing with outsiders, offering advice and such. As an Alpha’s Mate, your role is not only to mediate outside and within the pack but also to help your mate protect the pack,” she continued to explain and Stiles found himself nodding along in agreement knowing all of this to be very true._

_“I have to ask, if you were the magic user in the pack, why couldn’t…” he trailed off already feeling like an ass again for even wondering about it, Talia merely gave him a soft look though._

_“The drawback of being both the magic user and alpha of the pack I’m afraid. While I functioned as both for the pack it’s not an ideal situation as I did not have access to the level of power that you do,” she said softly. “I did manage to protect us for a time but eventually the barrier collapsed. If my husband had a spark of his own like you things may have had a very different outcome.”_

_“You mean because I have my own power we’re stronger together?” Stiles asked feeling a little floored by the information he was being given. “Is that why Ms Blake was trying to keep us apart?”_

_“Indeed, had you two stayed apart it would have been very easy for her to continue to manipulate Derek,” she explained._

_“Awesome, one more reason to want her dead,” Stiles huffed out. Talia merely nodded in agreement at this before she suddenly shifted into her beta form and struck out at him._

_Stiles reacted on pure instinct and threw his hands up in front of him and watched in surprise as Talia’s hand bounced back quickly. It was a little strange seeing her smile with a mouth full of fangs but he found it just as oddly cute as when all the others did it… he was pretty sure there was something wrong with him._

_“That was a very good reaction,” she said with a nod of her head. “You need to find something that works for you, whether it is seeing the barrier as a bubble of sorts or even walls, something that you can control,” she explained as she continued to lash out at him as she spoke._

_The barrier fell a number of times or didn’t even appear at all but Talia always stopped herself just short of hitting Stiles with her claws and the teen couldn’t help but find himself in awe of just how much control over herself the woman had. He knew not everyone made it to be an alpha, unless your name was Peter and you were an ass or Derek because of said previous ass, but to see someone who was born and raised to be an alpha was an amazing thing, even if it was only in his head._

_They continued doing this for what felt like hours until Stiles was at least able to keep the barrier up around himself during each attack. When Talia finally stopped Stiles sprawled out on the floor and found himself panting as if he’d just run a marathon and he couldn’t help but shoot a mock scowl at the woman who didn’t have a hair out of place._

_“_ The Matrix _lied to me! I’m in my own head but I’m tired as hell,” he huffed out causing the woman to laugh a little._

_“With practice you should be able to shield more than just yourself, I fear I will only have time to teach you the basics though, even I could sense the urgency the Darach was feeling and I fear she will only accelerate her plans, whatever they are, now that she has been cut off from both Derek and yourself,” Talia explained before helping Stiles back up._

_“Protecting myself is a must I know but you said me destroying things was because I lost control of the barriers. Is that something I can do on purpose?” He asked._

_Things shifted around them and they were suddenly in a dark room. Stiles shuddered at the oppressive feeling there but kept his attention on the woman in front of him._

_“However it is you envision your barriers, try thinking of it closing in and constricting you,” she explained and Stiles did as she asked before feeling the all too familiar panic and tightness in his chest build. “Now push out, push that away from you,” she said her tone encouraging._

_Again Stiles did as instructed and pushed the feeling away from himself, he didn’t have anything to focus on this time so he just pushed out with everything that he had and he was and the tight feeling in his chest disappeared as quickly as it had come and he opened his eyes to find that the dark room had cracks forming all around it and Talia was smiling at him warmly._

_“Very good Genim, again,” she said with a nod._

_Stiles continued to do it over and over, sometimes he would make progress other times nothing would happen and Talia would be quick to scold him on losing his focus. It wasn’t until the last time that he did it that the walls of the dark room finally fell away to show that the two of them were now standing in room that was completely white, or at least Stiles had thought it was until he caught sight of the beat up old stump again._

_“What is that?” He asked motioning towards it. “I saw it with the Darach before and I keep thinking about it.”_

_“The Nemeton,” Talia said her voice barely above a whisper. “You need to tell Alan that name and he should know how to guide you from there.”_

_“Good to know,” Stiles said sounding a little puzzled before he could sense something outside himself._

_“They have returned and they have two others with them, alphas,” she said and Stiles merely nodded before his look turned thoughtful._

_“Is there a way for them to join us? Derek didn’t know of anything aside from you know the usual,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders assuming that this version of the woman knew what he was talking about._

_“Just as the spark can be passed down a family line an alpha can choose to give up that spark given the right circumstances,” she said cryptically and Stiles couldn’t help but wonder if all the members of the Hale family were like that. “You should return to them now Stiles, and please inform my little brother that he is still an egotistical ass who could challenge Deucalion with the pompous way he behaves and that I will deal with him when his time comes… again,” she added as her eyes flashed red again._

_“Permission to spin that a little and use him as target practice?” He asked with a laugh._

_She merely smiled at him a little and nodded before he slowly came back to himself feeling much calmer than he had and with the feeling that he’d be talking to her again._

___________________

Stiles glanced around at everyone as he finished speaking and he could see Ethan and Aiden exchanging looks that clearly said they knew whatever the hell it was that Talia had been talking about and the look on Peter’s face said the same thing. It wasn’t important though at the moment and Stiles set the thoughts aside before he turned his attention to Derek, whose hold on him had gotten tighter since he’d started talking and was actually starting to get a little painful. For once he didn’t know what to say to break the tension in the room, but he didn’t have to.

“Even Mom knew you were a Sourwolf,” Cora suddenly spoke up causing the silence that had fallen to finally break as everyone chuckled a bit.

“I suppose I should come clean, before I face even more of my dear sister’s wrath in the afterlife,” Peter said with a roll of his eyes, though Stiles could tell the man was clearly trying to keep hold of his emotions, which actually surprised him. “I believe you, dear Lydia, are a Banshee, though to what extent I don’t know.”

At what Peter said Stiles’ eyes went wide when he realised how much sense that actually made. He was half tempted to face-palm for not figuring it out himself but instead he settled for laughing when he realised that Lydia must have known what that was, if the way she was practically preening was anything to go by. This started everyone talking again at once over the developments and for once Derek seemed perfectly content to let them talk themselves out as Peter explained what he knew of banshees and Lydia told them all of what she’d learned about them from the Bestiary.

Stiles merely leaned against Derek and allowed what everyone was saying to wash over him, still feeling drained from everything that he had done. He didn’t even bother yelling when Jackson and Scott eventually ended up wrestling around on the floor after Scott had accidently gotten hags and banshees confused and Jackson had felt insulted on Lydia’s behalf. Neither of them drew any blood so he didn’t think there was anything to be concerned about, at least not until Derek jumped up and went to the door opening it to reveal the Sheriff on the other side.

Stiles didn’t get a chance to say anything as he moved to join them as he was pulled into a bone crushing hug from the man. He hugged his dad back and smiled at him when they finally broke apart from each other, the smile fell a little though when he noticed the tense look on the man’s face and it was then that he noticed Chris Argent at the door as well.

“You brought him to our den?!” He snarled out before he could stop himself. John looked a little surprised at the sudden out burst from Stiles.

“Allison is here; didn’t you tell me that she was a hunter?” John asked feeling like he had missed something.

“She’s pack! Of course she’s here,” Stiles huffed. He was about to open his mouth and start up a good rant but Chris beat him to it.

“We’ll be talking about that, but I’m here because Melissa McCall has gone missing,” the man said sternly before Scott was suddenly wolfed out and in his face.

“What do you mean my Mom’s missing?!” He roared out before an equally wolfed out Derek was pulling him away from the hunter.

“The hospital called me when she didn’t show up for work and they couldn’t reach either her or Scott,” John said shooting a look at Scott who merely huffed.

“Scott’s phone has probably been dead since this morning,” Stiles said with a roll of his eyes before turning his attention to the pack. “You need to calm down Scott because anger isn’t going to help, someone get Deaton back here and…”

“No need, Peter text me a bit ago, sounds like you’ve had quite the interesting day Stiles,” the vet said with twitch of his lips as he walked in.

“I’ll tell you all about it later but someone took Mrs McCall,” Stiles snapped out, feeling his power simmering just below the surface. He knew that one crash course wasn’t going to fix everything and he was really just hoping he’d be able to keep it together with everyone being there.

“It seems the Darach is getting desperate,” Deaton mused which caused Stiles to raise his brow.

“Why would she need my Mom?” Scott asked, his voice bordering on frantic and Stiles really couldn’t blame him for it either.

“Because she’s going after guardians,” Stiles mumbled out before turning and fixing both Chris and his dad with a glare worthy of the red eyes he was currently sporting. “That means that you two don’t go anywhere!”

The two men puffed up suddenly as if they were going to argue with the teen until they suddenly found themselves facing down the rest of the pack and being man handled onto the sofa by the twins. Deaton merely watched all of this with an amused sort of look on his face before everyone got settled again and looked to the teen that was clearly taking his role of pack protector very seriously and watched as he and Derek exchanged looks.

“She had to of known that taking Scott’s mom would set us after her but why would she…” Stiles trailed off mumbling to himself, until he went quiet again.

“Stiles do you have something in mind?” Deaton finally asked. Stiles nodded a little and shrugged slightly before leaning forward in the chair he was now sitting in.

“I might, maybe, I’m not sure, but first I need you to tell me everything you know about the Nemeton,” he said.

“Where did you hear that name?” Deaton asked, his eyes widening a little.

“Talia, and before you ask that’s part of the ‘stuff I will tell you about later’ because it seems like we might be on a bit of time crunch, so if we could skip the riddles and the figuring things out ourselves bit that would be awesome,” Stiles said quickly as Deaton sighed.

“Things just became a great deal more complicated,” the vet muttered out.

“Story of my life,” Stiles shot back with a huff.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It all makes sense in my head so if anyone is struggling with anything let me know and I'll see if I can clear it up. ^.^
> 
> Also we're coming into the home stretch, I think there will probably only be about two more chapters for this story...maybe three depending on how it all ties together as I write it. ^.^


	11. I'll Find Strength in Pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Too much blood, there was just too much and it didn’t seem to be slowing down no matter how much of the pain Derek pulled away from Stiles. The man was beside himself as tiny whimpers started to escape from him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After a huge delay... apologies, started a new job and finished my last class for my degree... yep I'm done with school for now YAY! Here is you long awaited chapter. Chapter title if from Mumford & Son "The Cave".
> 
> I may go back through and tweak a few things, if I do I will be sure to make note of it in the notes for the next chapter, which should be the last (minus the epilogue) for this first part of this arc. Also this chapter fought me tooth and nail, the muses were not kind and fight scenes aren't my strongest area so I did the best I could, I hope you enjoy it and I will try my best not to make you wait so long for the next one!

Okay so finding out that the random stump he kept seeing in his mind was some sort of magical stump of doom, the reason all things supernatural thought Beacon Hills was an awesome place to show up and hang, and the reason the Hale pack had protected the preserve had sort of been a lot to take in for everyone. It was especially hard for Derek when Deaton explained that Paige’s death there so many years ago was probably what had been what allowed Kali’s Emissary, or Julia Baccari as she was actually known (the Sheriff providing that little bit of information), to survive the attack. Stiles couldn’t help but look a little puzzled at his father before the man explained what he and Melissa had put together shortly before she’d been taken. John hadn’t really wanted to believe any of it but once he reminded himself that his son was part of a wolf pack it had made it all a little easier to accept.

Stiles honestly thought about walking up to the wall and just slamming his head against it repeatedly after seeing the defeated expression that had crept onto Derek’s face. This was not what they needed right then… or ever, never was a much better option, but he knew that it was information that they had needed, so for once he couldn’t really be all that pissed at Deaton, don’t shoot the messenger, right? As much as he wanted to comfort Derek right then, Stiles could tell there was something else that Deaton clearly wanted to say but was holding himself back.

“I’d say we’re already fucked six ways from Sunday, so let’s hear it Doc,” Stiles said with a sigh ignoring the annoyed look his father shot him, with everything that was going on he wasn’t really all that concerned with his language.

“While it seemed to us that she was speeding up her timeline, I believe the Darach is actually trying to play this all out so that it ends on the Lunar Eclipse,” the man started slowly earning a number of puzzled looks from a few of the people in the room and knowing looks from others.

“An eclipse means no moon, no moon means no power,” Stiles broke in with a groan as everyone else grumbled in agreement.

“At least no power the wolves can rely on,” Deaton said, with a glint in his eyes. “Your power isn’t tied completely to the moon like the rest of the pack and I don’t believe the pack is her primary target, you were all just a means to an end for her,” he explained.

“I get what you’re saying Doc and we’re all willing to bet her biggest issue is with the Alpha pack, but badass Mama Hale has only been able to show me the basics so far and I don’t think that’s going to be enough,” Stiles sighed while running a hand through his hair, ignoring the rest of the pack around them for a moment. He could understand what the vet was saying loud and clear and he couldn’t help but wish it was just a little less loud and a lot less clear. He could clearly remember not too long ago when he was wondering if he was actually any use to the pack and for a brief moment he found himself almost wanting to go back to that.

“You might not be able to stop her yet, but you have more power than you did and most likely more than she is expecting from you. You could possibly give the pack exactly what they need,” Deaton said which earned him a snort from Stiles. “Time. They will need time to get through the eclipse,” the man said which had John sitting up quickly.

“You want to use Stiles like bait?!” He exclaimed quickly, causing Deaton to hold his hands up and shake his head slightly. Stiles almost wanted to give his dad a fist bump for being the first to catch on to what Deaton was saying, but he didn’t think it would really go over that well at the moment. At the same time he sort of wanted to glare at his dad for assuming that Stiles had no control over the situation, clearly they were going to need to revisit the whole ‘Stiles is co-leader’ topic once all this was over.

“No Sheriff, I don’t plan on using anyone for anything, I am merely making the best suggestion that I can with what we have to work with right now,” he said, taking note of the frowns both the Sheriff and Chris were sporting right then. “What they do with the information I am able to give is for the Alpha pair to decide, I would expect at least you to understand that very well Mr Argent,” the vet said taking a shot at the hunter that Stiles couldn’t help but silently applaud. Despite working alongside each other on occasion it was clear that Deaton had no love for hunters, not that he could blame the man.

“Could we find a way to distract her maybe?” Isaac piped up finally which caused Peter to look thoughtful.

“We know that Kali and Deucalion are most likely her real targets, maybe we could lure her into a confrontation with one of them,” the older wolf suggested.

“I get that Deucalion is probably crazier than you were when we killed you Creeper, but I doubt he’d fall for it, right?” Stiles shot back while directing his question to the twins who both looked at him in surprise, no doubt because he was including them yet again, something that he would seriously need to break the two of if they were ever going to be part of the pack.

“Right,” Ethan said simply after exchanging a quick look with his brother.

“Kali is so convinced that Derek killed Ennis she’d most likely show up if she thought she had a chance to kill him,” Aidan added quickly, wincing a little at the many growls and glares the statement earned him.

“I don’t like it but we could use it,” Stiles muttered out lowly while holding up his hand to cut everyone off, which made them all look at him in shock. “I didn’t say it was going to be a perfect plan but we don’t have anything else right now!” he snapped which caused a number of them to whimper and Derek to move so that he was now plastered against Stiles’ back.

“What are you thinking?” Derek murmured into his ear lowly.

“Have the twins get her here to ‘attack’ you, you contact ‘Jennifer’ for her ‘protection’, Argent, my Dad, Lydia, Allison, Deaton and the pups go find Scott’s mom,” Stiles mumbled out.

“A reasonable plan,” Deaton said with a nod as the others slowly started to nod along even though it was clear from their facial expressions that they weren’t exactly thrilled with it. “The eclipse is in three days,” he added taking note of the shocked expressions on everyone’s faces. With everything that had been going on he couldn’t say he was surprised that they had all forgotten that it was right on top of them. “I’d been looking over charts when Peter alerted me about Melissa, but it wasn’t until I looked at the lunar cycle that I had an idea of what she was up to exactly,” he explained.

“I don’t care what the plan is if it gets my mom back,” Scott said suddenly causing everyone to quiet down once again.

“On that note I guess we all better get comfortable for the night then,” Stiles said with yet another sigh breaking the eerie silence that had settled over them.

“Kid if you think I’m staying…” Chris started to say before a mere nod from Stiles had him face to face with three irritated Alphas and Scott who looked like he was about two seconds from ripping someone’s head off, not that anyone was blaming him for that.

“I do think, in fact I think this is the safest place for you and Allison to be right now because God knows you have the same idiotic tendencies as Derek and Scott and you’ve probably been thinking about ways to try and go after the Darach all by yourself,” the teen said with a smirk as Chris quickly looked away, having very clearly been thinking just that.

“DAD!” Allison exclaimed shooting him an annoyed look.

“I’d be happy to keep an eye on him,” Peter said while leering at Chris…and there was a mental image that Stiles never wanted, though it appeared that Erica and surprisingly Lydia were imagining it just fine… as was everyone else that was currently shuddering.

“Not even going to touch that…” he said trailing off as a yawn escaped from him. “Shit I only just woke up, how the hell am I still so tired?” he grumbled which had everyone chuckling a bit except for Scott who was now sitting with a dark look on his face.

Stiles waited until Derek was busy ordering everyone around and figuring out the sleeping arrangements to drag Scott up the stairs.

“What if we’re too late? What if she already…” Scott was cut off though as Stiles quickly pulled him into a hug.

“We’d know,” Stiles said suddenly pulling back to look Scott in the eye. “The pack bonds, we’d feel it, she’s alive Scott, trust me.” Scott managed a jerky nod at the statement, though he clearly wanted to be out looking for the woman, and it gave Stiles a little hope even though every part of him wanted to go and hunt the evil bitch that had taken his pup’s mom right then as well.

“Do you think she’ll be okay?” Scott whined lowly.

“This doesn’t feel like the other times, it feels more like she’s trying to move us all around a giant ass chessboard,” Stiles explained waving his hands a bit as he spoke which had the desired effect and got a snort from Scott.

“She should have just tried to play actual chess with you first so she would have known how much of an ass kicking she was actually in for,” Scott mumbled as some of the tension slowly left his shoulders, clearly starting to be lulled by the scent of his Alphas.

In fact Scott didn’t even argue when Stiles just pushed him onto the bed, just letting out a sleepy whine before Stiles curled up next to him, pulled him in and held him much the same way he did Isaac when he was upset. He and Scott had actually slept that way a number of times when they were younger after Scott’s dad had taken off. He didn’t feel as tired as he had before but sleep claimed him just as quickly as it had Scott.

 

After finally putting his foot down with the sleeping arrangements, mostly that the Argents were going to be sleeping in Peter’s room and no Peter would not be sleeping with them, Derek wasn’t surprised to find Stiles and Scott fast asleep with Stiles holding Scott to him as if protecting him. A pleased rumble sounded from him and he glanced over his shoulder to find John just behind him but he wasn’t watching the two sleeping teens, he was watching Derek watch them.

 ----------

“Claudia held him like that when he’d have nightmares,” the man said softly while nodding towards the teens. “I’m not gonna lie, I probably only understand half of everything that you’ve all told me, and Stiles is probably going to have to draw me a damn chart, but I can see that you care about my son, hell you care about all of them,” he continued on which caused Derek to turn fully. “Hell, I guess what I’m trying to say is that I remember your parents Derek, they were really good people and I think they’d be damn proud of the man you’ve become,” he said his voice getting a little gruff. “Any parent would be lucky to call you son and I want to thank you for being there for mine,” he added before patting Derek on the shoulder before heading back down the stairs.

It took Derek a full five minutes to realise that he was smiling like an idiot.

 ----------

None of the three knew exactly what time it was when the bedroom door flew open and a frantic Isaac came charging into the room. Stiles was almost certain that if Scott or Derek hadn’t realised it was Isaac that the other teen would have been ripped to shreds.

“Come on! The Sheriff is making pancakes!” Isaac shouted before running back out. Derek barely had time to blink before Stiles and Scott were tripping over themselves trying to get out the door.

It wasn’t long after everyone had finished eating that Deaton showed back up and the pack split into their teams for the night. The planning had been going well for the most part before a fight broke out between Jackson and Scott that had Derek storming over to them to break it up, honestly everyone was surprised the two had made it as long as they had without laying into each other. Stiles glanced up from one of the journals that Deaton had brought to find the twins suddenly very close to him and staring intently.

“I don’t have syrup on my face do I?” Stiles asked feeling slightly uneasy because of the intense stares. He had no concerns that they would attempt to hurt him, the fact that they were still there and helping told him all he needed to know, didn’t mean he enjoyed being stared at, he got enough of that from Derek.

“Why are you helping us?” Aiden asked. Stiles sighed a little at this, though he was honestly surprised that they hadn’t asked sooner.

“I don’t get the same power hungry feeling from the two of you that I get from the rest of those bastards for starters. Second, from the way I’ve seen you around our pack I can’t help but get the feeling you haven’t had the best experiences in being part of one and while I know we’re still a fairly new pack, with our share of problems, I guess I just wanted you both to have the chance to be part of something better,” he explained hoping that his thoughts were coming out clear enough for them to get his point.

The twins exchanged a quiet look for a moment before nodding at Stiles. While neither of them was exactly thrilled with the idea of becoming betas again, the prospect of being part of an actual pack made it seem like a pretty fair trade. Not that they would admit it but Stiles was actually one the deciding factors for them. He’d impressed them at every turn, had been the first to offer them any sort of help, and the fact that he was facing all of this while slowly dying was nothing short of amazing. When the noise from the fight started to pick up again Ethan quietly broached the subject.

“Have you told any of them?” he asked. They could see Stiles tense slightly at the question but he shook his head.

“Peter and Lydia probably have an idea, but Derek and my Dad are the only ones I’ve told,” Stiles said.

“If that scent gets any stronger the Betas are going to pick it up no problem,” Aiden supplied.

“I was afraid of that,” Stiles said while casting a quick glance towards the others as Derek was finally getting them all to calm back down. “It won’t be much longer, Derek was planning to turn me sooner rather than later with everything going on. In fact that was what we’d been trying to do before when you’d warned the pups about the other two,” he added which the twins merely nodded at.

It was about then that Derek approached the three and raised a questioning brow at Stiles who merely shrugged before tapping his nose.

“They know,” he whispered simply, for once glad of the sassing going on between Jackson and Scott to cover up the conversation from the rest of the prying ears. Derek merely nodded at this and looked at the twins for a moment before his eyes flashed a brilliant red. The twins flashed in return, clearly showing that they understood it was a quiet matter but it left Derek thinking his own eyes were playing tricks on him because he could have sworn he’d seen the faintest hint of blue in the their gazes.

 ----------

It took another two hours for the argument to finally fizzle out between Scott and Jackson, though Stiles knew it was really just Jackson’s way of help Scott vent over the situation, and it took another three after that before everyone was up and moving around with their final preparations for the evening. Stiles couldn’t help but roll his eyes a little when Peter practically drooled himself silly as he watched Chris checking his weapons over and strapping on his thigh holster. He wasn’t going to lie and say the man wasn’t a DILF and made thigh holsters look amazing, but he liked living, in fact he was tempted to make a joke until he caught sight of the intense look on his dad’s face. Stiles didn’t say anything as he moved over to the man and sat down next to him, he simply waited for him to say whatever was on his mind.

“How did this become your life Genim?” The man asked softly as he watched the twins give instructions to everyone on the off chance that they ran into one of the other alphas.

“Just lucky I guess,” Stiles muttered out causing the Sheriff to look at him quickly until he noticed that the teen was staring hard at Derek. It was a look the Sheriff was very familiar with because he used to watch Claudia the same way.

“You should be proud of the family you’ve made for yourself son,” he said before placing a warm hand on the teen’s shoulder which made him look at his dad in surprise for a moment before he quickly beamed at him.

“I really am,” he mumbled before hugging the older man tightly.

The time seemed to slip by too quickly after that before they all realised it was now or never. Chris and Deaton had headed out first, the others planning to meet at the clinic before heading out in search of Melissa. This was followed quickly by Ethan and Aiden who headed out in search of Kali to lure her back to the loft.

“We’ll get her back Scott,” Stiles said softly while bumping his shoulder against his friend’s.

“Just focus on finding her, we’ll join you if we can,” he added which Scott nodded at before hugging him for a quick moment and then heading out the door himself.

This apparently prompted a hug train as all the other members of the pack, barring Peter, hugged Stiles as well before leaving. Once they were all gone from his sight though Stiles finally started to feel the stress of the situation. Derek could apparently pick up on something from him as he was soon wrapped around the teen.

“I don’t like this, I don’t like that I’m not out there with them right now,” he muttered out lowly.

“I don’t like it either but if we’re able to at least get one of them out of the way, they will all be that much safer,” Derek rumbled back before looking down at his phone. “She’s on her way,” he added with a growl.

“I just want this over with,” Stiles sighed out while leaning into Derek’s hold. What Stiles hadn’t told everyone was that since he’d woken that morning he had the sinking feeling that everything was about to go very wrong and no matter what he’d done throughout the day he’d been unable to shake the feeling.

He turned in Derek’s arms to say something about it finally and barely had time to throw up a hasty barrier as Kali appeared from seemingly nowhere and launched herself at Derek from behind. The man had just enough time to push Stiles away from him, in a move eerily similar to the night at the pool with Jackson the Wonder Lizard, before diving at the woman and Stiles couldn’t help but notice that she was alone, the feeling of dread coming on full force.

“Where are Ethan and Aiden?!” He yelled as the two collided in a tangle of snarls, teeth and claws, suddenly feeling slightly more than frantic at that moment as he quickly rushed towards the door in hopes of seeing the twins approaching.

“We made them pay for betraying the pack!” Kali snarled out at him as she managed to rake her claws down Derek’s side, causing him to growl out in pain, his eyes darkening at the careless way she spoke of the brothers before slashed his own claws across her chest before she pulled back out of his reach.

“You don’t get it do you, you crazy bitch?! Derek didn’t kill Ennis!” Stiles snapped out, his eyes just as red and bright as Derek’s were right then. “In fact you have…” Stiles was cut off as Kali suddenly tore herself away from Derek and attempted to swipe at him. She was quickly tackled to floor though by an enraged Derek who now had his nails dug deep into her back.

This didn’t seem to faze her though and only seemed to anger the woman even more as she started to kick at Derek with her clawed feet, opening up deep gashes in his legs that caused him to jerk back from her in an attempt to regroup himself. They weren’t surprised when Kali let out and enraged howl when her attempts to attack Stiles were blocked by the barrier he’d constructed while watching the two of them. He couldn’t do much for Derek right then but he could at least make sure that his mate didn’t have to worry about Kali getting her claws into him.

“What did you do to Ethan and Aiden?!” He yelled out, feeling the same anger that clawed its way into his chest every time he was feeling protective over one of the pack.

“You’ll join them soon enough!” She shot back, avoiding the question all together before she and Derek started ripping into each other again. None of them noticed the storm that was quickly building outside.

Stiles was only momentarily surprised by the sudden urge to see Derek rip the woman’s head off but he quickly pushed it aside knowing that they may very well need her to tell them where the twins actually were. That didn’t stop the wicked smirk that formed on his face as Derek slammed her against one of the pillars as he sank his claws deep into her shoulders.

“You can’t blame anyone but yourself and Deucalion for all of this,” he finally said almost feeling pity for the way the woman’s mind had clearly been warped by everything that she had done and that Deucalion had convinced her of. The feeling was quickly brushed aside as she managed to get a shot in on Derek, catching him just along the lower right side of his jaw.

“You know nothing!” she screamed out while attempting to attack again before suddenly the few windows that had been replaced shattered again.

The three turned quickly, taking in the storm that was raging outside not noticing as Jennifer Blake stepped quietly into the room until the two wolves suddenly found themselves being flung to the other side of the room.

“How very right you are Stiles, there is no one else to blame for what’s about to happen,” she said with a smirk before attempting to sink a long dagger right into the teen’s stomach. She let out a hiss of frustration when it was stopped by the barrier Stiles was still surrounded by. “Clever little Spark, you’ve learned a new trick,” she spat at him.

“That’s not all I learned,” he growled back before shoving the barrier away from himself and grinning a little as Jennifer flew backwards, much the same way she had tossed the wolves.

As much as Stiles wanted to congratulate himself he couldn’t really as he knew that the woman was dividing her focus between attacking him and keeping Kali and Derek pinned where they were on the floor. Needless to say the fact that she still had that much power left Stiles feeling a little overwhelmed he almost shuddered as her eyes started to turn pure white but it suddenly stopped and her gaze shot towards the door. Stiles followed her line of sight to find Ethan and Aiden helping each other into the loft. His gaze shot back to Jennifer as she suddenly smirked at seeing the two of them.

“Well now I think this just got more interesting,” she said with a laugh that had Stiles running towards the twins.

Luckily Kali and Derek had finally managed to break whatever hold the woman had had over them and while Derek regroup Kali did her best to attack the woman in front of her but Jennifer managed to dodge most of the attacks before she finally seemed annoyed at the situation and unleashed another shockwave of power throwing both Kali and Derek back once again.

Stiles watched all of this with a worried gaze as he struggled to maintain the size of the barrier he was holding in an attempt to protect himself and the twins as she suddenly launched some of the broken glass towards them. It shattered against it but one of the pieces still managed to make it through catching him in the side, causing him to hiss out in pain.

“Stiles!” Derek yelled from where he was struggling to get to his feet again.

“I’ll be fine Sourwolf,” Stiles said not realising that Jennifer had managed to move behind them and he turned just in time for her to throw the twins aside and run him through with the dagger she’d been carrying.

Stiles stared at her wide-eyed as his hands flew to the hilt, not even registering Derek screaming his name, and the woman’s ‘perky’ appearance shifted to the monstrous look of the Darach that Stiles clearly remembered from his mind, he fell to his knees, shock clearly written on his face. He couldn’t even remember when the barrier had actually fallen. She stepped away from him and glared at the two alphas before her, though her focus was clearly more on Kali again.

“Next time you kill someone, you should make sure they are dead!” She bellowed out at Kali as Derek quickly rushed to Stiles’ side, no longer caring what happened between the two women.

Even with his vision as fuzzy as it was becoming Stiles could see Kali being thrown across the room yet again from the force of Jennifer’s attack, he even winced a little in sympathy as she was pinned to the wall in what could only be a very uncomfortable position. If Kali said anything, showed any sort of remorse, or even begged for her life he couldn’t hear it but he did hear the sickening sound of a body being stabbed multiple times, and he had no doubts that Kali was dead after that, he couldn’t imagine that there was any way Jennifer would leave her alive after what she had done to her. While part of him felt that Kali had clearly earned her trip to Hell, he couldn’t help but think that Jennifer was actually just as bad, she’s turned around and done just what it was she was seeking revenge for, people would just never learned it seemed.

He couldn’t stop the gasp and hiss of pain as Derek slid the dagger out of his stomach, nor could he stop the coughs of blood as it bubbled up in his throat. He couldn’t really bring himself to believe that he was dying, the pack needed him, or at least he hoped that they did. Someone had to baby Isaac and keep Scott and Jackson in line. Who was going to take care of his dad for him? Who was going to…?

“Stiles!” Derek shouted bringing the teen’s fading attention back to reality.

“H…hey Sour…wolf,” he managed to get out before Derek glanced away from him growling.

“I don’t care what the fuck they did to you, I’ll make what they did look like mercy,” he growled out at Jennifer who was now shifted back and smirking as if she hadn’t a care in the world, not even seeming concerned about the twins who were slowly starting to wake up again.

“I only need two more guardians Derek, though by the looks of it,” she said glancing towards the growing puddle of blood from Stiles. “Might want to make that one and then it won’t matter what your little pack comes up with, there will be nothing you can do to stop me,” she said with a light laugh. How she didn’t realise they knew that Melissa was still alive was beyond Stiles, then again he couldn’t help but wonder if living in delusion was one of the perks of being insane, he’d have to ask Peter… ha, even spiting up his own blood and bleeding out he still had it and the upper hand.

“Wrong… why… do y-you think… the rest of… the rest of the p-pack isn’t here?” Stiles managed to stutter out with a smirk firmly on his bloody lips even though it was getting incredibly hard to keep his eyes open, even with the pressure that Derek was putting on the wound, not to mention the pain he was drawing away.

At his question Jennifer’s eyes went wide before she glared at the two of them.

“This isn’t over,” she hissed before tearing off out of the loft.

“Wasn’t quite… quite how I thought th-this would… end…” Stiles gasped out before his eyes slowly closed, they quickly shot back open for a moment though when Derek suddenly clamped his teeth down over the mark, before they fluttered closed again.

 ----------

Too much blood, there was just too much and it didn’t seem to be slowing down no matter how much of the pain Derek pulled away from Stiles. The man was beside himself as tiny whimpers started to escape from him. Stiles should be turning, why wasn’t he? They were mates; Derek couldn’t possibly lose him now right? Derek’s thoughts continued to become more frantic until he heard Stiles heartbeat, which had been slowing, start to beat a little stronger.

His hopes were suddenly dashed when Stiles started to convulse in his arms as black blood started to leak from the stab wound, it was then that Derek picked up on a scent he hadn’t before when he first removed the dagger, it was the faintest scent of mistletoe. Derek let out a frustrated howl at this before starting to draw even more from Stiles. He knew he was doing too much when he started to feel drained but he knew he couldn’t stop, if he did, he could possibly lose Stiles forever.

He couldn’t stop the snarl that escaped him when someone suddenly gripped his shoulder but he still didn’t let go of the teen in his arms.

“Derek you need to stop!” Ethan’s weak voice suddenly sounded in his ears. “If you keep going you’re going to sacrifice your spark!” he added doing his best to pull the distraught alpha away from his mate.

“He’ll die!” Derek screamed out finally looking at the battered and beaten twins that stood in front of him supporting one another as their own wounds slowly continued to heal. The two of them looked like hell but they still pushed him away, their eyes flashing red and their faces determined.

“Let us do it,” Aiden said softly causing Derek to look at them both in shock as their kneeled down on either side of the bleeding teen before he slowly let go of Stiles, sending the teen into another fit of convulsions.

The twins exchanged looks for a moment before each placed a hand on Stiles chest, pulling more and more pain and poison from him and Derek could only look on in worry as their eyes slowly shifted from the familiar red to a bright blue, wondering if it would be enough to save his mate even as the two of them howled out in agony. At the moment the last bit of red left their eyes, Stiles shot up with a gasp before collapsing back to the floor, but his heartbeat was steady and the black blood gone.

The twins collapsed against one another and wearily bared their throats to Derek, who merely accepted it with a nod before gathering Stiles into his arms before carrying him up to their room as Ethan and Aidan passed out where they lay.

It wasn’t much longer after that before the others finally returned with Melissa in tow. Isaac was limping slightly and being supported by Allison and her father, while Scott was plastered to his mother, clearly worried that she might disappear if he lost sight of her again. The twins opened their eyes long enough to note that Deaton wasn’t with the group but said nothing as they did their best to avoid the curious stares that Peter kept sending their way and they couldn’t help but fidget a little when they heard the Sheriff wondering how everything had gone at the loft. No one really pressed for any information though as the events of the day caught up with everyone and pulled them all to sleep.

\---------- 

_This wasn’t how it was supposed to go, he could feel Stiles slipping further and further away from him, nothing was working…_

Derek quickly sat up with a gasp before reaching up and touching Stiles’ sleeping form gently, reassuring himself that the teen was still there. He didn’t know how long it had been since he’d brought Stiles to the room, but even the short amount of time he’d been away from him to wipe up the blood on the floor and dispose of Kali's body the night before had been too long. He simply lay there and listened quietly to his mate’s even breathing and the sounds coming from the rest of the pack below them.

\----------

It wasn’t until late afternoon that everyone was finally starting to get up and move around. The twins were now sitting up leaning against one another, still almost too tired to move but that didn’t seem to stop Peter from wanting to poke them and the others to look at them curiously. It was at least another hour though before Lydia was crouched in front of them and looking at them with a serious expression.

“I can feel you,” she said simply, tilting her head a bit as she studied the two of them. “I shouldn’t be able to should I, you’re not pack yet,” she said before her line of thinking was derailed when the two of them flashed matching sets of blue eyes that were once red.

“Oh shit!” Jackson exclaimed from where he’d been watching over the exchange. “What the hell happened to you guys?!” he yelled out causing everyone to turn their attention to the twins.

“They’ve given up their sparks,” Deaton supplied for them from where he currently sat talking with both the Sheriff and Melissa. “I can’t help but wonder why though,” he stated clearly curious as to what had happened.

“That would be my fault Doc,” Stiles said suddenly as he was carried down the stairs by Derek, who clearly looked like he wasn’t thrilled with the idea of having the teen around everyone.

“What the hell happend Stiles?” John asked, while getting up of Derek could set Stiles down on the couch.

With a tired sigh and many pauses Stiles explained to them all what had happened with Kali, and what he didn’t know Derek filled in. Neither were really surprised when the wolves in the pack flashed their eyes in anger at the thought of having almost lost Stiles and the teen felt touched. When the two of them finished talking though everyone was quiet until Deaton finally spoke up again.

“Did the bite take like it should?” He asked, worried that the extreme measures that had been taken had possibly stopped the teen from turning completely. Despite how tired he still felt Stiles could feel his own wolf now just beneath his skin which caused a tiny smirk to creep onto his face before his eyes flashed under his own power, a brilliant red with the smallest ring of gold.

“No doubt about it Doc, we’re going to need a new plan.”


	12. And how he waits, baying for blood...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are finally starting to come to a head as the pack prepares for their final face off with Deucailion and the Darach. Not to mention they all finally realise just how close they had come to almost losing Stiles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I'm sure you all noticed I haven't named this chapter yet because I'm giving you all a gift. You've all been so amazingly patient waiting for this chapter that I am posting the raw un-edited version for you. I will be cleaning it up and posting the finalised version later this weekend, but this is my way of saying thank you to you all for sticking it out with me! I love all of you for that.
> 
> Update 5/12/15 Title is now up and this is now the finished version of the chapter! Title is from the new Mumford & Sons song "The Wolf"

It was another long evening of talking, despite how much Stiles had just wanted to sleep, before Derek finally took him back into the bedroom. It had taken answering the same questions repeatedly from everyone, whether it was how he was feeling from everyone, to Deaton asking repeatedly if he and Derek had noticed anything different about their bond. Honestly Stiles didn’t think there was anything different from before, unless you counted the fact that Stiles felt even more like he wanted to climb Derek like a tree, which in his personal opinion he had no problems with, especially since that little bit of information made his dad, Scott and Chris Argent turn some interesting shades of red.

He wasn’t really sure how anyone was expecting him to notice anything all that different when it had barely even been a day since he’d been turned. True, his spark had been preparing him or whatever it was it had been doing that had been wreaking havoc on his body but that didn’t prepare him for the onslaught of sights, sounds, smells, and all those other wonderful heightened senses that the bite gave him. There was no way anything could prepare someone for something like that. Hell, Stiles had known it was coming and still wasn’t ready for it.

Stiles had actually spent the parts of the conversation that Derek had been talking trying to focus down to certain things, like one person’s scent or their heartbeat and was finding himself becoming frustrated when he would almost have it only to be bombarded by something from someone else. He wasn’t trying to kid himself into thinking that he would just magically get the hang of things overnight but time wasn’t exactly on their side. They had just a little over a day and while he may not be able to get the hang of all things claw and fang, he at least needed to be able to do something with his magic if he was going to be of any use in getting them the time they needed.

It wasn’t until his dad had accidently asked if turning had helped him with his health that Stiles was being stared down with many kicked puppy expressions as well as being questioned about it by everyone, Scott being the loudest of them all, not that Stiles was surprised by that. He quickly explained everything as best he could, not feeling too much like getting into every single detail, especially since he didn’t have every detail himself, and found himself rewarded with even more kicked puppy expressions.

“Were you ever planning on telling us?” Scott asked with a distressed look on his face.

“Not really, I mean I was planning on taking the bite anyway,” Stiles said with a sigh that earned him an even more wounded expression from the other teen. “Scott, seriously, there was nothing you would have been able to do for me if you had known anyway. Hell, I wouldn’t have even told Derek if he hadn’t picked up that something was wrong himself,” he added with a huff.

He could tell that it wasn’t really making it any better but he didn’t really have anything else to say about it. He didn’t even know what else there possibly was to say about it. It was over and done with now; he was healthy, no more losing his mind. Couldn’t they all just be happy about that? He could tell from the wounded looks he was getting from everyone that he would be talking to them all about it in turn. Well almost all of them, Lydia, Peter, Cora, Boyd and Allison all seemed to be taking the news in stride and he found himself grateful that at least some of them understood his reasoning for not telling anyone. Scott opened his mouth to clearly say something else before Stiles cut him off with a growl in the back of his throat, which surprisingly caused Scott to whimper a little and bare his throat.

“When this is all over Scott we can talk about it until we’re blue in the face,” he grumbled out. Scott looked like he wanted to argue but another small growl from Stiles had him nodding his head slowly in agreement no matter how much he clearly wanted to disagree.

Stiles couldn’t help but wonder if it was the increasing level of his frustration that had made Derek take him back to bed or if something had shown in his face, either way he wasn’t about to complain when Derek had laid him back down. If he could get away with it he would have wrapped himself up in the blankets and not moved for at least another week but he knew it was a luxury he didn’t have. He could also tell what it was that Derek wanted to say just by the way his brow wrinkled a little as he looked over at Stiles.

“You’re going to tell me I should have told them and while normally I would agree with you, this was my problem and none of their business,” he grumped out. He was feeling angry over the sudden prying into his life and he couldn’t quite explain why, the frown on his face must have said all he needed it to though as Derek merely pulled him closer. When he stopped and thought about it, he knew they were upset because it seemed like he didn’t trust them with the information, when they all trusted him with their secrets and it really did make his feel like an ass, but there was honestly no controlling his temper right then.

“Feeling overwhelmed?” He asked and all Stiles could do was nod as he sighed yet again.

“You know I’m usually an open book when it comes to this stuff but I felt so annoyed when they were asking me about it, please tell me that sudden aggression is a side effect of just turning,” he muttered out, peeking up at his mate from the blankets, looking more than a little like a kicked puppy himself. In the back of his mind, he already knew the answer, for some reason he just really needed to hear it from someone else.

“It can be, it’s different for everyone, you know that,” Derek responded softly before resting his chin on top of Stiles’ head as the two drifted back to sleep.

Back downstairs Scott was torn between feeling excited that they were able to get his mother back and upset at the fact that even with everything going on he hadn’t been able to tell that his best friend had been sick the whole time. True Stiles hadn’t told them all when it had started but he couldn’t help but figure it had been at least since everything started with the Darach. The thought that it may have even been going on before that just pained him to think about but he couldn’t help but wonder if it were the case because it would make how angry Stiles had been about what he had done with Gerard make even more sense. It made him feel like even more of ass about the fight they had over it.

“Scott, sweetie, I know you’re going to sit there and feel guilty about Stiles if I let you,” Melissa said as she moved to sit next to him. Scott had been so lost in his thoughts he hadn’t even heard her approaching.

“I didn’t even know he was sick Mom, how could I not, he’s my best friend!” He huffed out, running a hand through his hair. “What the hell good is having a super sense of smell if I can’t even tell when my best friend needs me?”

“I know, but by the sound of it no one really knew and that was the way he wanted it. What would you have done if you had known? What could you have possibly done for him?” She asked him gently running a hand up and down his back as she spoke.

“I- I don’t know…” he muttered out.

“You would have worried, you all would have and with what you’ve all been telling me about everything that was going on, Stiles probably didn’t want you all focusing on something that you couldn’t change,” she said thoughtfully. “He’s got a good head on his shoulders and you all know that it was his choice whether to tell you or not,” she added.

While Scott might not have liked the explanation he found he really couldn’t argue with it so he merely sighed and reluctantly nodded his head. He wanted to argue the point that Derek had in fact changed the situation but he knew that there was more to that situation than just Derek turning Stiles, so he didn’t bother to bring it up. He was still having trouble wrapping his head around the whole ‘mate’ thing that Deaton had been explaining to him and couldn’t help but figure that was a rabbit hole he really didn’t need to venture down right then.

“I still could have been there for him, I mean more than I was,” Scott sighed. “I was an ass of a best friend for a while.”

“McCall, seriously, let it go, it’s done,” Jackson suddenly spoke up from where he was lounging next to Lydia. “Wonder boy will be fine now, just remember not to be such an idiot in the future,” he added, ignoring the growl that escaped from Scott.

The growl was more of a knee jerk reaction from Scott where Jackson was concerned because he knew that the blonde was right and as much as he wanted to argue, he really couldn’t think of a single protest that wouldn’t make him sound like even more of an ass. Sighing, he merely nodded his head and flopped back on the couch, staring at the ceiling as if it held all the answers for him.

From where they sat the twins were watching the exchange as if it was the most interesting thing in the world and Peter couldn’t help but notice, finally making his way over to the two. Both quickly turned their attention to the older member of their new pack, watching him curiously as he crouched down until he was eye level with the both of them.

“What you did for my nephew…” he started. “I’ll never be able to thank you properly for it, but I can’t help but wonder why you did it?” He asked, the look on his face stating that he was not only curious about the answer but suspicious as well. It was more than obvious to the two former Alphas that thanks were not the older wolf’s strong suite so they took it in stride.

“Not going to lie, we’d been thinking about it as a possibility since Stiles first offered us a place with the pack,” Ethan stated.

“We could tell from the first time we spoke with him and from watching you all, that he’s what holds this pack together whether he knows it or not,” Aiden added with a shrug of his shoulders.

“So you did it for our Little Red?” Peter asked laughter clearly in his eyes as he said this and the twins couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps they said something they shouldn’t have, but knowing it was too late to take it back.

“The way he treats everyone,” Ethan started. “We don’t really remember our parents anymore, but despite the fact that he’s about the same age, he treats everyone like he’s their parent and we couldn’t help but wonder how it would be to have that,” he finished surprisingly quiet.

It was then that the three noticed that everyone else had gone quiet in the room and were clearly listening in on the conversation. They were met with some surprisingly understanding looks from all the other younger member of the pack, but no one spoke up right away until Peter nodded his head and stood back up.

“I think you’ll fit in just fine,” he said with a smirk before moving over to where Deaton was in the kitchen, preparing something that smelled awful to help speed up the twins’ recovery time as well as Stiles’. “Seems our Little Red’s influence continues to grow,” he started. “Do you think…” he was cut off when Deaton raised his hand.

“I know what you’re going to ask about, but this isn’t the time or the place to discuss it, not when you all have much bigger problems to worry about right now.” Peter merely raised a brow at this. “I would think getting everyone back up on their feet, finding out if the twins can still merge and seeing just how much control Stiles has would be a bit of a higher priority,” he added fixing the former Alpha with a look that clearly said he was questioning the man’s sanity again.

Peter merely sighed at this and neither of them took notice of Lydia listening on the conversation, or if they had they didn’t say anything.

 ------------------

Back upstairs with the sleeping Alpha pair Derek was suddenly woken when he was shoved violently off the bed. He quickly came to with a snarl and looked around but found no one else in the room. Moving back towards the bed he could see a clear look of concentration on Stiles’ face. He could only assume that the teen’s spark was reacting to the change and quickly slipped out of the room as the feeling of magic began to reach uncomfortable levels and deciding that it was high time they put some type of plan together, because they were quickly running out of time.

_Stiles quickly found himself in the now familiar white room was met with the sight of a grinning Talia heading towards him. She looked him over with red eyes and her smile was near blinding, though he could still notice just a hint of sadness from her causing him to tilt his head in confusion._

_“I knew you would be amazing. I just can’t help but feel sadness over how it came to pass,” she said softly. “You should have never had to go through pain like that during your turning, but the twins did what I hoped they would and the pack is stronger for it,” she finished, running a hand gently over Stiles’ head much like his own mother used to do._

_“We’re not going to be ready in time,” Stiles finally said, allowing his fears to bubble up to the surface since he had no fear showing weakness to the pack here. “The twins are laid out, I’ve only just turned and have no idea what I can do and the eclipse is in a day,” he added in a rush. He opened his mouth for another ramble when he noticed Talia smiling again._

_“Why do you think your spark pulled you here again?” She asked with a small laugh. “We can do more in here in just a few hours than you’ll be able to out there, so let’s get to work, shall we?” She said before launching herself at Stiles as she had before._

_Surprisingly Stiles found that he barely had to think about it before a barrier snapped into place, protecting him. He stared at it wide eyed for a moment before looking to Talia for answers._

_“Stiles, you knew your spark was preparing you for the change and you’re still surprised that the barriers are easier to control now?” The look of amusement on her face was clear and it only took a moment or two for a look of realisation to pass over Stiles’ face._

_It also dawned on him that the eclipse would actually work in his favour. He wouldn’t have to worry about controlling his shift and his barriers, as all of them would be more or less human during that time. Even though she hadn’t intended it, the Darach had actually done him a favour. Talia knew the moment Stiles realised this when she spotted the smirk on his face. She also knew that the pack couldn’t be in more capable hands._

Outside of Stiles’ mental world Derek had re-joined the rest of the pack down in the living room just as everyone was holding down the twins while Deaton poured something awful smelling down their throats. He didn’t even want to know what was in the foul smelling concoction and while it was almost funny watching everyone try to hold down the two newly downgraded Betas it was taking up time that Derek knew they didn’t have.

“Drink it!” He bellowed out, with enough commanding Alpha tone in his voice to cause the twins to fall still and allow the vet to finish his work. Once Deaton was finished he stepped back and kept a close eye on the two even though he started talking to Derek.

“The mixture I gave them should boost their energy levels back up over the next few hours rather than over the next few days, I’ll keep an eye on them with Peter’s help if you’d like to start working with the others,” he explained, ignoring the annoyed expression on Peter’s face at the thought of babysitting. “I’ve also set some aside for Stiles if it’s needed but from the feeling in the air; I imagine he’s getting help elsewhere,” he finished noticing the heavy feeling of magic.

Derek merely nodded at this and led everyone off to the open area of the loft, taking a moment to look everyone over to ensure all of them had healed. Once he was satisfied, he let them go again but quickly pulled Chris, John and Allison aside. The three said nothing at first clearing waiting on the Alpha.

“We’re going to need the three of you to back up Stiles when the eclipse happens,” he said, his look stony and face blank, even though the thought of not being able to protect Stiles himself was killing him inside. “We won’t be any use to him once it starts and I don’t want him alone for a moment,” he added.

John and Allison merely nodded at this both willing to do anything and everything to protect the teen while Chris just stood there for a moment looking surprised. He was looking at Derek as if he was just seeing him for the first time and Derek was starting to find a little unnerving.

“What?” He finally grumbled out at the man after he continued to stare at him for another minute without saying anything.

“You’re asking a Hunter to protect your mate?” Chris asked evenly. Derek’s eyes flashed at this and he suddenly had a few more teeth than he had had before.

“No, I’m asking the father of one of our pups to protect my mate,” he growled out even though every instinct he had was telling him to rip the man’s face off for the question. This wasn’t the time for old grudges and they were running out of time and options.

Chris didn’t need to be told twice, recognising the olive branch for what it was. Instead of provoking, as he would have in the past, he merely held out his hand and when Derek finally accepted it, he nodded.

“It would be an honour to protect you and yours Alpha Hale.”

Derek didn’t even need to look over at Deaton and Peter to know they were watching the exchange with shocked expressions. The wording that Chris had used was from a very old and ancient part of the Code that could be used in times when Hunters and Packs needed to work together to protect a territory but none of them could honestly remember the last time it had been used.

\------------------ 

Over the next few hours the rest of the pack took to coming up with various ideas for what they could do to help protect not only themselves but Stiles as well if the need arose. It wasn’t until Deaton and Peter finally re-joined them that they stopped, giving the two their attention, clearly waiting for an update on the twin’s status. At least they thought they were until the familiar hulking from of their combined state appeared behind them. Derek couldn’t keep the surprised expression off his face, nor could he find the right words, but he didn’t need to.

“Well I guess that answers that question,” Stiles spoke up from the stairs, as he made his way down slowly to join the rest of them.

Everyone’s attention quickly snapped to the teen for a moment, each looking him over in their own way to ensure for themselves that he was in fact okay. He merely stood there and did the same himself to each of them before turning his attention to twins.

“I would have thought that they wouldn’t be able to do this anymore, since the whole… you know, giving up their sparks thing,” he said, managing to express the thought that Derek had been mulling over himself.

“The only thing I can assume is that it’s one of those things that once learned it cannot be unlearned. They may not have been able to merge before they became Alphas but clearly their wolves feel more comfortable together, stronger,” Deaton explained, merely stating his own thoughts on the matter. “Another possibility is that they are drawing the power from the pack, now that you’ve turned, something like this would take very little energy,” he added. “How are you feeling?”

“Like we need to find a way to get Deucalion and the Darach in the same place to get this over with because I’m sick of this shit and ready for a break,” Stiles said with smirk, causing everyone to let out relieved sighs now that they were sure he wasn’t going to be passing out on them anytime soon.

The suggestion was quickly made to attempt tricking the two of them into a confrontation but Stiles was quick to shoot the idea down, reminding everyone what had happened the last time they had tried that… and he really didn’t have any plans for dying a second time. Once had been more than enough for him and everyone agreed on that wholeheartedly. It was finally, in Stiles’ opinion, a brilliant idea from Lydia that they settled on. The direct approach.

They contacted both Deucalion and “Jennifer”, set a time, and place to meet. Chris had suggested an old warehouse just outside of town and John quickly confirmed that it was in fact, still abandoned and once the calls were made the group quickly headed out. There was no putting it off any longer, they could all only hope that they were ready.

Once they arrived everyone quickly set themselves up. The twins were separated and the humans of the group took to the rafters, tucking themselves out of sight until they would be needed. Stiles had liked the idea of showing as a united front but at the same time, he wasn’t quite ready to lay all their cards on the table just yet. 

Deucalion was the first to arrive, looking as self-important as ever, despite the fact that he no longer had a pack backing him up.

“Something has changed, oh my you’ve given up your sparks and Stiles, my you have changed haven’t you?” The Alpha said with a smirk, as if everything was going according to plan for him. Stiles merely rolled his eyes at the man but none of them rose to the obvious bait.

They surprisingly didn’t have to wait much long for the Darach to appear and she seemed to be rather surprised that Deucalion was there, though she said nothing and if she was surprised to see Stiles alive and breathing, nothing showed.

“Look if the two of you want to tear each other apart that’s awesome, no arguments here, but we’re a little sick of being stuck between you two ego tripping assholes,” the teen snapped out. He was not having one of his more elegant moments but he was beyond pissed, these two had threatened his pack, hurt his pups, not to mentioned killed him, so he was a little past the point of playing diplomat and felt more like taking a blunt page out of Derek’s book.

The Darach said nothing to this while Deucalion merely chuckled.

“Why Stiles were would be the fun in that?”

The teen didn’t even bother attempting to control his shift, nor did he need to look at the others to know that they had shifted as well.

“Sorry you feel that way, because I can tell you now, this isn’t going to end well for you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The muse seems in high spirits so cross your fingers and hope it stays with me folks!


	13. So we come to a place of no return...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final fight in upon them. The pack will clash with Deucalion, while Stiles can only hope that they will all make it out alive and that with a few tricks up his sleeve he'll be enough to stand between his pack and the Darach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well here it is the last full chapter of Swelling Rage. I would like to take a moment to thank everyone that stuck it out with me and also give a small explanation for the delay. Shortly after the last chapter was posted my Gran, who raised me, passed away suddenly. She didn't always understand it but she thought Sterek was pretty cute and couldn't understand why it wasn't a thing on the show (just like she couldn't understand how Destiel wasn't a thing) and was my muse many years when it came to my writing, it's been a little over a year now since I lost her and it finally seemed like the time to get back to it. So this chapter is for my amazing Memaw!
> 
> Disclaimers: See Chapter 1, Chapter title is from Mumford & Sons "Monster"

Before Deucalion could think of something witty to say in response, both Stiles and Derek struck out at him, eyes blazing and claws deadly. Each managed to hit a shoulder before they were thrown to the side and the twins moved in attacking as well. The pack continued to attack the Alpha in waves, each attacking until they were thrown aside and the next wave would move it. Stiles and Derek had thought it might be their best chance as they could try to avoid having everyone taken out at once. Jennifer wisely stayed to the side and watched the fight to avoid bringing attention to herself, though there was no way in hell that Stiles was forgetting that she was there any time soon, he’d made that mistake once already, thank you very much. He knew she was just waiting to make her move and that was just fine with him, in fact he was counting on it.

Things didn’t seem to be going horribly, until as expected Deucalion reached his breaking point and shifted to his Alpha form, clearly growing annoyed with the way the fight had been going.

If they had thought Peter’s Alpha form looked disturbing, they didn’t even really know what to make of Deucalion’s twisted form. The mangled looking Alpha struck a deadly claw out in an attempt to catch Jackson off guard, who was trying to catch his breath after having Scott slammed into him, and was surprised to be met by a barrier and deeply growling Stiles who didn’t back off until the larger Alpha let out a yelp when a fully shifted Derek latched onto his flank before the twins finally managed to tackle the older wolf to the floor. Despite all the bloodshed Stiles couldn’t help but be oddly reminded of the way the pack would swarm over pizza as all the ones with claws dove in swiping at the man.

Not fooling himself for a moment into thinking they had the upper hand he wasn’t surprised when they were all thrown back, the twins taking the brunt of the Alpha’s counter attack. Stiles could tell the twins were tiring quickly, holding their combine form for so long after just becoming Beta’s again, it couldn’t have been easy and if there had been any way to avoid it he would have. Hell he would have avoided the entire situation if the two assholes they were there to take down wouldn’t have insisted on dragging them all into their fight.

Stiles shot a quick look to Peter, who was hanging back as he still wasn’t quite up to fighting form, and the man quickly nodded before dragging the twins back while Derek kept Deucalion’s attention on him. Peter quickly pushed the twins to where Lydia was waiting to place mountain ash down around them to keep them from being injured further. Once satisfied that they were protected well enough for the time being Stiles found himself darting towards the fight again just in time to intercept Erica before she slammed into the wall.

“Thanks Batman,” she said with a tired looking smile, some of her hair matted down with blood, no doubt sporting a claw mark somewhere on her scalp, if the amount of blood was anything to go by.

“Anytime Catwoman,” he said with a faint smirk before passing her off to Peter as well. His attention snapped back to the fight when Derek suddenly let out a loud yelp of his own as Deucalion caught him in the side with his massive claws as he had darted in between the other Alpha and Scott who had clearly been his original target.

A howl unlike anything Stiles had ever heard sounded from both Isaac and Scott as they two started to claw at Deucalion as if they were in some sort of frenzy and they were soon joined by Boyd, Cora and Jackson, as they had all finally gotten back to their feet. Stiles knew in his bones that the others who were still hiding in place were no doubt chomping at the bit to do something so he couldn’t help but silently thank their patients. He was having as equally hard a time not throwing himself head first into the fight because it had been decided before they arrived that he should only become involved as needed due to the fact that he was going to be their main line of defence when the eclipse struck, not that it was a decision that sat well with him.

_They were in the process of finalising their plan, well if you could call what they came up with plan when Derek’s look turned serious and Stiles could already tell he wasn’t going to like whatever it was that the man was planning on saying and he was a little surprised when Peter moved over to join their conversation._

_"I think you should let us deal with Deucalion,” Derek said, the indignant noise that escaped from Stiles causing him to open and close his mouth a few times clearly trying to think of a way to explain what he meant better._

_“What my dear nephew is no doubt trying to say, seeing as your primary goal in the fight is to delay the Darach, is that you should avoid becoming injured in dealing with Deucalion,” at this Derek nodded causing Stiles to sigh._

_“I don’t like it but I get it,” he grumbled out. “As strange as what I’m about to say sounds, Peter, we’re going to need you to protect Lydia,” Stiles added causing Peter to give the two of them a quizzical look._

_“Don’t think we’re not aware of the fact that even after all this time you’re still not back to normal and your hold over your shift is half-assed at best,” Derek barked out causing Peter to take a look of full blown surprise._

_“When this is over we’ll work with Deaton and figure that out but for now you’ll run back up,” Stiles explained while handing the long knife that he’d been stabbed with. Happily Peter didn’t need any more explanation than that and merely accepted it with a nod. As he walked away Stiles rounded on Derek with a small glare._

_“I get it I do, I’m what will stand between the pack and the Darach but don’t think for a moment that if it comes down to it I won’t claw the shit out of that other asshole,” he said with a huff and Derek seeming to finally realise when to pick his battles merely nodded at him._

The fight continued as members of the pack darted in to attack from all sides leaving Deucalion snapping and snarling as he spun this way and that, his swipes sometimes finding their mark sending one of the pups flying and Stiles rushing to intercept them or block them if needed. It continued until it was down to Derek and Deucalion, circling each other. The two lunged at each other repeatedly and blood flew, it was clear to him with the intensity that Deucalion was attacking that he’d dismissed Stiles and the others from his mind, but when he pinned Derek to the floor he clearly came to regret that decision.

Stiles didn’t even think twice about what he was doing, nor the fact that it could cause their entire plan to fail, hell he’d warned Derek, but with the eclipse coming on faster all the rest of his rational thoughts flew out of his head when he saw Derek get slammed to the ground and Deucalion raising his massive claws. All the Betas that were still conscious watched on in fear thinking they were about to see their Alpha killed when Deucalion suddenly let out a pain filled howl before he was violently thrown from Derek. Stiles stood protectively in front of Derek, growling lowly in his throat.

Deucalion slowly made his way back up right and was now bleeding heavily from the gashes that Stiles had inflicted. Stiles couldn’t even find it in himself to care that the man could possibly die from blood loss when they were all forced to shift back. He could feel himself slowly shifting back and couldn’t stop the smirk that crossed his face at the surprised expression on Deucalion’s.

“Very clever young Stiles,” the demented Alpha said while grunting in pain as he attempted to move.

“I can’t even claim to be the mastermind behind this one, that was all her doing,” he said jerking his head in the direction of Jennifer who was merely watching the exchange. “She planned for all of this to happen around the eclipse when everyone would be at their weakest and there wouldn’t be a damn thing you or any of us could do to stop her,” he added noticing how even though he couldn’t shift now, his senses were still stronger than they were before he was turned, so he wasn’t too surprised to still see a faint hint of red letting him know that Deucalion was still able to see and that he was looking right at Jennifer.

“He’s right you are very clever Stiles, one of the smartest in my class,” she finally said with a mocking smile as she finally moved towards the two of them. “I can’t even really say I’m surprised that you were able to not only figure out what my plan was, but also do your very best to stop it,” she added tilting her head to the side as if she were in deep thought.

She surprised the both of them when she quickly moved behind Deucalion and placed a hand on either side of the man’s head before he was suddenly screaming out in pain. Stiles took a step back when he saw that her eyes had gone all white again but now had red starting to appear in them as well.

“I must admit I hadn’t planned on taking his power but you’ve handed me such a perfect opportunity,” she said with a mocking laugh as Deucalion continued to scream.

“Yeah I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” Stiles said before dropping out of the line of fire as two arrows flew past, one finding it’s mark in Jennifer’s side and the other just nicking the side of her face as she managed to dodge it at the last moment.

Stiles quickly got back to his feet and with as much force as he could behind it, sent a barrier towards the woman, sending her flying backwards. His moment of mental victory was short lived when she was quickly back on her feet and sending various chunks of debris flying towards him and his back up.

Stiles hadn’t even realised what he had done until he caught Derek’s surprised expression from the corner of his eye. In his moment of panic he’d managed to throw two barriers, a larger one protecting the Argents and his dad and a smaller one protecting himself. The surprise disappeared quickly when it became obvious that the barrier he’d thrown for himself was the weaker of the two when a piece of metal made it through, slamming into his hip and knocking him to the ground.

“Stiles!” He could hear both Derek and his dad yelling out.

He tried to get up as quickly as he could but he knew that Jennifer must have been getting close to him when heard shots ringing out and for a moment and he couldn’t help but hope that his dad was using one of the guns that the Argents had given him because he’d have a hell of time explaining why he’d discharged his weapon. He finally made it back to his feet and couldn’t help but sigh in relief to see that Jennifer was still busy dodging a mix of bullets and arrows.

“Scott!” He yelled before catching the vial his friend had thrown to him.

_The group was getting ready to head out when Deaton motioned to Stiles and Scott. The two quickly made their way over to the man and looked at him curiously. Deaton said nothing at first and merely held up a vial. Scott looked at it perplexed but Stiles recognised it from his training._

_“Mistletoe?” He asked, feeling slightly puzzled himself, and honestly after his turning, he sort of just wanted to toss the vial out the window._

_“The dagger the Darach used had been laced with it, which tells me that she most likely has used it in other spells she’s worked, most likely the ones she’s using to protect herself,” Deaton explained._

_“How does that help us?” Scott questioned._

_“It can be used against her just as much as it has helped her,” Deaton replied giving Stiles a meaningful look._

_“It can expose her, break the glamour she has on herself…” Stiles finally muttered out, causing Deaton to nod._

_“Ending whatever protection spells that she might have worked into the glamour,” he said handing the vial over. Stiles looked at it for a moment before passing it to Scott, not wanting to be near the stuff anymore than necessary._

_“I’ll let you know when it’s time,” Stiles said, Scott merely nodded at this before the two joined the others._

“Can’t say I’m exactly thrilled to be near it after my last run in with this stuff,” he said with a small scowl before holding the vial up for her to see, “I’m sure your little friend needs no introduction,” he said, his smirk growing a little as she hissed out.

“Mistletoe,” she snapped out with a glare. She attempted to quickly back away but was surprised when she found she couldn’t, glaring again at the teen, she found that she was starting to think she had underestimated him.

Stiles, knowing she would attempt to get away, had thrown a quick barrier up behind her and moved a little closer his smirk growing as he did so.

“Let’s show them all what was really lurking around in my head,” he said before tossing the contents of the vial at the woman who quickly began to shriek out as her form turned back the twisted Darach from Stiles’ memory.

Like with Deucalion, Stiles wasn’t even attempting to delude himself into thinking he had the upper hand, the Darach was still far more powerful than he was, so he wasn’t terribly alarmed when a shock-wave of power sent him and the others flying backwards. When they all finally got back to their feet they realised she was no longer in the building. Everyone continued to look around knowing it was only a matter of time before she reappeared.

Limping as quickly as he could, his hip throbbing in pain and blood dripping for somewhere on his body, Stiles made his way over to Derek, helping him move over to where the rest of the pack was. The only warning Stiles received that she had returned, a number of minutes later, was the sound of shots ringing out again before he was thrown away from the rest of the pack. It wasn’t ideal but he just kept telling himself that he just needed to buy them all a little more time, as he could slowly start to feel his own inner wolf starting to become restless. Stiles waited for a blow and was surprised when he heard her shriek instead and looked to see her hand now pinned to the wall courtesy of a well-placed arrow from Chris Argent.

She growled lowly and quickly pulled out the offending arrow, her attention now on the three up in their perch.

“You would have made such wonderful sacrifices,” she rasped out at them before sending the three flying before Stiles had a chance to even try to protect them again. He didn’t have much time to be shocked through before he found himself pinned to the wall by the throat. “Who are you to ruin my plans?” She howled out at him, lifting him off the ground as she did so.

Part of Stiles was tempted to point out to her that she was no better than the Alphas she had killed but the majority of his brain was just done with all of this and knew it would just be a waste of breath with her. Glaring back at her and keeping her attention on him, he flashed her a dark smile.

“Bitch, I’m the Alpha Mate,” he said glad that she had been holding him at arm’s length when blade was suddenly protruding from her chest.

She looked down at it in surprise causing her to drop Stiles in her shock. She slowly turned to find a smirking Peter looking back at her.

“I really must thank you,” the former Alpha said. “I always wanted to try killing someone without my claws,” he finished, his smirk turning down right sadistic as Stiles quickly grabbed hold of her head the way she had with Deucalion and leeched back the bit of Alpha spark that she had stolen from the other man. Honestly he wasn’t even sure how he did it, just trying to let his own spark latch onto what it recognised as wolf and pull. He wasn’t sure it would work until he heard her give a scream.

The pack looked on impassively as this happened, some feeling like they should be more shocked that it was happening but once recalling all of the damage the woman had caused to the pack, they couldn’t find it in themselves to be bothered. Stiles let her go soon after he’d started and looked to Derek as his mate watched on and noticed that his eyes were starting to flash in and out. Leaving the woman on the floor where she was now clearly bleeding out, Peter helped Stiles back over to Derek.

“You were amazing,” Derek murmured to him softly and Stiles gave a small sigh before leaning against his side.

“They should both be down long enough to for the eclipse to finish,” he mumbled out as he slowly drifted off.

\------------------- 

When he woke a few minutes later to a fully shifted Derek nudging him he sighed in relief as he felt himself able to shift again, it was still a little sluggish but it was there. The two moved to where the rest of the pack was and Stiles approached his dad but addressed everyone.

“I don’t know if you’ll want to be here for what comes next,” he said simply glancing at everyone. Most of them where leaning on each other, either needing the support or just looking for comfort after what had just happened, but all met his gaze clearly telling him, this was something they didn’t feel they should miss but it was his dad who spoke up.

“Stiles remember when you were younger and you asked me why cops didn’t just shoot the bad guys?” He asked and Stiles nodded. “Do you remember what I told you?”

“You said that even if someone has done something wrong, taking their life should only be done if it’s the last resort,” Stiles trailed off with a frown thinking the man was about to tell him to let them go, but John shook his head.

“I also told you that it should be done if it’s necessary to protect, and after everything I’ve seen here tonight, I can’t help but find myself thinking that it is necessary,” he said before a small burst of air escaped him as Stiles almost tackled him with the force of his hug. It was clear to Stiles that the man wasn’t completely comfortable with the idea of what was to come but the look in his eyes said he understood doing what was necessary to protect family. When he let him go Stiles turned to Derek and the two moved away from the group.

They located Jennifer first, following the great trail of blood she had left while trying to slowly make her way out of the building. Honestly Stiles was a bit impressed that she was even still able to move after all the blood she lost, just the fact that she was even still alive was a bit impressive, not that he would ever admit it out loud. He crouched down until he was eye level with the gasping woman and Derek merely sat down next him, knowing his mate had something he wanted to get off his chest.

“You stole from me,” he started. “You stole from my power, my bond with Derek. You stole my friend’s life, all for some twisted fucked up sense of justice you have in your head. You even tried to steal Derek, my mate,” he added in a hiss. “But the worst thing you did was steal my life, you stole the last of my time as a human, you stole my choice,” he said feeling he had said all he wanted to and started to move away from her.

“You ruined everything,” she said once more. At this Stiles merely gave her a sharp smile with far too many teeth and leaned in once more.

“When you kill someone, you should make sure they stay dead,” he said in a deadly whisper, throwing her words to Kali back at her as he moved aside, the smirk on his face never leaving even as Derek lunged forward and grabbed hold of her throat. It wasn’t that he was enjoying seeing his mate kill someone, it was the fact that it meant that her part in their lives was ending, and that it was one less threat to the pack.

Her scream quickly became a wet gurgle as Derek ripped away, taking the majority of her throat with him as he did so. The two stood there and watched until she drew her last breath and moved no more.

Stiles was hoping to feel some sort of relief at this but the hair was still standing on the back of his next reminding him of the other threat they had yet to take care of. He didn’t say anything when Derek shifted back and he wasn’t even bothered by the fact that Derek’s face was covered in blood but he knew Derek was confused when he yelled for Peter and quickly caught whatever it was the man had thrown him. His unasked questions were answered though when Stiles tossed the sweat pants to him and he merely raised a brow as he slipped them on.

“Everyone got enough of an eyeful during the eclipse Sourwolf,” he said with a roll of his eyes. Derek merely sighed at this, knowing that his mate would never change, before they moved to where Deucalion was watching them from where he was pinned thanks to a few wolfs bane laced arrows from Allison.

“It appears Derek that you are the better Alpha,” the man said as the two approached.

“You were my mother’s friend, she respected you and yet you came here, kidnapped my sister, threatened my mate, hurt our pups,” Derek growled out. “What the hell could have possibly been worth all of that?” He questioned, not really expecting an answer but needing to get the question out of his mind.

“Being the villain in this tale, I would love to say that my reason was something grand, but my reason was even simpler than our dead little friend over there,” he said motioning towards Jennifer’s body. “It’s as I said from the moment I arrived, power, I want more power,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders. “You’ll understand in time the longer you’re an Alpha,” he added with a smirk. Derek shook his head furiously at this.

“I will never understand something like that,” he snapped out before taking a step back and allowing Stiles to move forward, Deucalion’s once again bright red eyes shifting to focus on the lanky teen that had thwarted them all.

“I must admit the one thing we didn’t plan on was you,” he started. “Oh we had heard about the boy who ran with wolves, the Spark, but never once suspected you were Derek’s mate at first,” feeling rather smug at this, Stiles lifted his shirt and turned his back to the other wolf. “A true marked mate,” Deucalion muttered. “You will be quite the pair it seems,” he added.

Stiles was little surprised at how much more sane the man seemed from before but he didn’t let that fool him as he could clearly still pick up on the vibe that just screamed he would kill them all if given half a chance.

“I suppose this is where our fight ends,” the older wolf said, seeming as if he somehow thought they were going to let him leave. Stiles couldn’t help but think that might have been true if some of the visions he’d seen had come to pass and Scott was calling the shots, being the softy that he was sometimes, but that wasn’t this reality.

“I didn’t come here to fight you, I came here to violently kill you!” Stiles snapped out before ripping his claws across Deucalion’s throat before the older wolf could even twitch.

The surge of power that more or less smacked Stiles in the face was a bit of a surprise and while Derek helped hold him up he quickly focused on it and did his best to push it out through the pack bonds. He assumed it seemed as overwhelming as it did because it wasn’t just the small amount that the Darach had managed to steal, it was everything. He wasn’t sure he been successful in what he’s been trying to do until he finally opened his eyes again and noticed that everyone’s eyes were much brighter than they had been before and if he focused on them he noticed that even the bonds felt a bit stronger. Making their way back to their exhausted looking pack, Stiles couldn’t help but feel a little bad about the fact that they weren’t quite done yet. 

“I wish I could say we were just going to cut and run, but I don’t think we should take any chances,” Stiles explained, while Derek merely nodded to show that he was in agreement.

“What exactly did you have in mind?” Peter asked curiously, voicing the question now on everyone’s mind.

“I think we should take them to the Nemeton and burn them, can’t come back if there is nothing left but ash,” he explained simply with a shrug. He caught Peter smirking and getting ready to open his mouth but held up his hand stopping him. “Clearly we didn’t burn you long enough,” he muttered with a roll of his eyes, causing faint laughter from everyone.

 -------------------

Getting the bodies out to the Nemeton had been a chore in and of itself as everyone was really running on their last cylinder. Stiles couldn’t help but be thankful that his dad now knew what was going as the man took Allison and Lydia with him to watch the perimeter while Chris helped Peter get everything that would be needed to make sure that the bodies would burn fully. When the two that had caused them all so much anguish were finally burning Stiles was able to let out the sigh of relief he’d been waiting for. It was really over  and they were gone. He was just so relieved that he couldn’t even find it in himself to let out the snarky comment about not having marshmallows that was on the tip of his tongue. The pack just continued to catch in silence as the bodies continued to burn.

 -------------------

It was hours later that the banged up, bloodied and bruised pack finally made their way back to the loft. As soon as they were in the door Melissa was hovering over them all, cleaning up the worst of the wounds, even though she already knew that almost all of them would be completely healed before the end of the day, while everyone took turns cleaning themselves up in the bathrooms. Stiles remembered all too well being stuck on the side-lines like that so if he happened to growl once or twice so that Melissa could have her way, he didn’t really feel like anyone could hold it against him.

At one point Stiles whipped out the dreaded puppy eyes when it was clear that some of them wanted to go home to their own beds.

“We’ll all be fine kiddo,” his dad said simply while giving the teen a hug that was clearly meant to reassure him, but Stiles quickly shook his head, looking very much like a toddler that was on the verge of a temper tantrum.

“I can’t really explain it, but I just really need everyone to be where I can feel them clearly for a little while longer,” he mumbled out.

He really couldn’t say why he felt like that. He assumed it was because the pack just faced a huge threat and somehow managed to come out alive. True some of them were a little worse for the wear, Jackson, Isaac and Scott seeming to be the worst, a broken arm, broken leg and a number of broken ribs between the three of them. Many of them had minor breaks of one bone or another, many cuts and bruises that would take longer than normal to heal since they’d come from an Alpha and the twins were pretty sure it would be a few days before they would be able to merge again. Stiles himself wasn’t even sure he’d be able to put up a barrier for a few days but despite all of that, they were all alive. None of his visions had come true and Stiles couldn’t even begin to describe the relief he was feeling about that. Everyone thought Chris was about to start complaining again about the situation when he sighed heavily and stood, fixing everyone with a small scowl.

“I’m too tired to argue about this, let’s just all get some sleep,” he finally said with a yawn before heading towards Peter’s room, where he’d last slept and if anyone noticed Peter slink off after him, well they either didn’t care or were just too tired to point it out and again Stiles wasn’t about to touch that situation with a fifty foot pole.

After letting Stiles look over the rest of the pack for another half hour Derek finally drug the teen to bed after he realised that Stiles was actually fighting sleep.

“Go to sleep Stiles,” he grumbled out as he wrapped himself around the teen. He was just starting to drift when Stiles finally spoke up.

“I can’t,” he mumbled softly causing Derek to open his eyes again and stare at him. “After everything that happened and the fact that it’s finally over, I’m afraid that if I go to sleep I’ll wake up and find out that this was all just another one of those visions and that we’re still not safe, that everything that’s happened wasn’t real, that…” he trailed off softly knowing that he was gearing up for a ramble and trying his best to cut himself off being able to feel the need for sleep radiating off of the other man.

He couldn’t help but jump in surprise and look at Derek with wide eyes as the man nipped him none too gently on the ear.

“I promise Stiles, this is real, those two are gone and the pack is all here safe,” he said, his eyes brightening a bit so that just the faintest hint of red was showing.

“Love you Sourwolf,” Stiles said finally settling down into Derek’s arms.

“Love you too, now please go the fuck to sleep,” Derek grumbled before drifting off to the sound of Stiles’ soft laughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *bows* I hope it was worth the wait, all that is left is the epilogue, which will hopefully be up before the end of this week and then I will start on the next part of this series.
> 
> Also virtual cookies to anyone who can guess where Stiles' last words to Deucalion came from ^.^
> 
> As always feel free to follow me on [tumblr!](http://thextinamonster.tumblr.com/)

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo... yeah... btw feel free to look me up on tumblr! http://www.tumblr.com/blog/thextinamonster


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